More than Meets the Eye:
Integrating ecoacoustics & eDNA to uncover the secrets of Zanzibar's coastal biodiversity
Location
Zanzibar, Tanzania
Funding
Seeking funders
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Years
TBD
Target 2025-28
Partners
TBD
Marine Cultures
Chumbe Island Marine Park
For the first time in East Africa, our proposed interdisciplinary project will test and build capacity for the application of two emerging and potentially synergistic approaches to robust benthic biodiversity monitoring: environmental DNA (eDNA) and ecoacoustics.
In coastal Zanzibar, we aim to:
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Develop combined eDNA and ecoacoustic approaches to assess reef biodiversity while minimizing cost and effort.
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Improve DNA and sound reference libraries in the underserved Western Indian Ocean to enhance the insights derived from passive acoustic and genetic data.
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Empower communities, resource managers, and scientists to independently obtain rigorous reef biodiversity metrics to support conservation and restoration.