eDNAdventure! Data Explorer

Important

Preliminary data analysis tool, subject to ongoing development. Results should be interpreted with appropriate caution and validated with statistical rigor.

Live Application

Click the image below to launch the interactive eDNA explorer web tool:

About the Application

This application is designed for visualizing patterns of spatial and/or temporal alpha diversity (species richness) and relative abundance of environmental DNA metabarcoding data.

Key Concepts

• OTU (Operational Taxonomic Unit): A DNA sequence cluster used as a proxy for a species. Note wjle this app uses "OTU", if your data uses ASVs/ESVs, the functionality remains unchanged.
• Taxonomic Rank: Classification levels from phylum through genus and species
• Abundance: Number of DNA sequences (reads) assigned to a taxon; higher values suggest greater relative presence
• OTU Richness: The number of unique OTUs detected at a sampling location
• Site: A geographic sampling location along the river continuum

Important Considerations

When interpreting eDNA data, please note:

• eDNA detects presence, not population size - Higher read counts do not necessarily indicate more individuals
• Relative abundance should be interpreted cautiously due to species-specific differences in DNA shedding and detection efficiency
• Detection probability varies among sampling methods, DNA degradation rates, and primers used.
• False negatives are possible - Absence of detection does not guarantee species absence

Features

1. Interactive Map

Visualize taxonomic richness across sampling sites with customizable popups showing the most abundant taxa at each location.

2. Heatmap

Explore abundance patterns across sites and taxonomic ranks.

3. Patterns of Species Richness

Compare taxonomic richness across categorical variables (e.g., site, region, method) with interactive plots.

4. Spatio-temporal Richness

Model richness as a function of geographic distance or time, depending on study metadata.

5. Taxon Search

Search for specific taxa and view their relative abundance across sites.

Data Format Requirements

OTU Table (CSV)

• First column: OTU IDs (must be unique), can also be ASVs/ESVs
• Other columns: Samples as column names
• Values: Numeric counts or abundances

Metadata (CSV)

• First column: Sample IDs (must match OTU table column names)
• Other columns: Grouping variables, treatments, sites, regions, dates, years, latitude, longitude, etc.

Maintainer

Patrick Nichols
Postdoctoral Researcher
Biodiversity Genomics Research Group
University of Oulu
📧 patrick.nichols@oulu.fi
🔗 https://biodiversitygenomics.org/