Assessment of biodiversity and ecological quality is of global importance in the monitoring of aquatic ecosystems, and is legally binding through the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD, 200/60/EC). High throughput DNA sequencing (HTS) has the potential to revolutionize the monitoring of ecosystems and biodiversity, but the uptake of molecular techniques in official monitoring programs at the national and regional scales has remained slow.
Organised by EnvMetaGen, in close collaboration with DNAqua-Net and the EDP Biodiversity Chair, this workshop will address the power of HTS techniques for assessing biodiversity and ecological quality in freshwater, transitional and marine waters, and provide information on how these techniques are starting to be used, in Portugal and across Europe and the USA, to address biomonitoring challenges, particularly those related to the WFD.
A full day of conferences and networking where scientists, industry and government agencies will provide examples of best practices in the implementation of these techniques in different countries, such as the United Kingdom, Finland and Germany, allowing to nurture the discussion on what steps would be needed to improve their application and overcome technical problems, and how to address policy and regulatory issues.
The event took place on December 18th, 2018, at CIBIO facilities in Vairão, Porto. The final program and links to download the speakers’ presentations can be found here.
