Tracking lagoon biodiversity with eDNA: A new TÜBİTAK-funded project launched at our Institute

Biodiversity assessment in coastal ecosystems is increasingly important as urban ecological pressures and other environmental stresses continue to impact sensitive habitats. A new research project funded by the TÜBİTAK 3501 – Career Development Program aims to advance DNA-based biodiversity assessment in Türkiye by applying innovative environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding techniques.

The eDNA lagoon project focuses on the Marmara Sea-connected section of Küçükçekmece Lagoon in Istanbul. By analysing water samples, it plans to capture a snapshot of zooplankton diversity across multiple sampling stations along the salinity gradient and track seasonal changes in community composition. Since zooplankton are key indicators of aquatic ecosystem health, monitoring their spatio-temporal dynamics along the salinity gradient will provide valuable insights into how lagoon ecosystems respond to environmental stress. The project aims to establish a reliable molecular framework for biodiversity monitoring and to support future conservation and management efforts for coastal ecosystems in Türkiye.

The recently launched project is hosted by our Institute and led by Dr. Onur Doğan (Boğaziçi University), with Gülnur Karabiber (İstanbul Technical University) as project scholar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sibel Küçükyıldırım Çelik (Hacettepe University) as researcher, and Prof. Dr. Raşit Bilgin (Boğaziçi University) as consultant.