Knowledge Co-Production to Improve Information Uptake: A Case Study in Downeast Maine

Scientific information is often not presented in a form that fits the specific needs and capacities of decision-makers. This mismatch results in the loading dock problem, where information remains unused or uptake is slow. Further exacerbating this gap is the challenge to integrate data from different disciplines. In response, we collaborated with stakeholders to co-produce knowledge in support of decision-making (e.g. related to siting, impacts on species, or local capacity) for sustainable tidal power development in Downeast Maine. Agency regulators, an industry developer, and a tribal environmental department were engaged in a series of workshops to discuss existing information, identify knowledge gaps, and co-produce data integration strategies. While this study was motivated by the need to make well-informed decisions related to tidal power development in Maine, the process is applicable to other coastal development contexts

Environmental DNA analysis of river herring in Chesapeake Bay: A powerful tool for monitoring threatened keystone species.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling has emerged as a powerful tool to detect and quantify species abundance in aquatic environments. However, relatively few studies have compared the performance of eDNA-based abundance estimates to traditional catch or survey approaches in the field. Here, we have developed and field-tested a qPCR assay to detect eDNA from alewife and blueback herring (collectively known as 'river herring'), comparing eDNA-based presence and abundance data to traditional methods of quantification (ichthyoplankton sampling and adult observations). Overall, the qPCR assay showed very high target specificity in lab trials, and was successful in detecting river herring for 11/12 Chesapeake Bay tributaries in spring 2015 and 2016, with 106 out of 445 samples exhibiting positive eDNA hits. We found a strong correlation between eDNA abundance and ichthyoplankton count data (Spearman's Rho = 0.52), and Phi-tests (correlation of presence/absence data) showed higher correlation between eDNA and ichthyoplankton data (Phi = 0.45) than adult data (Phi = 0.35). Detection probability was significantly lower on western vs. eastern shore tributaries of Chesapeake Bay, and blueback herring and alewife were more likely detected on the western and eastern shores, respectively. Temporal patterns of eDNA abundance over the spring spawning season revealed that alewife were present in high abundances weeks ahead of blueback herring, which aligns with known differences in spawning behavior of the species. In summary, the eDNA abundance data corresponded well to other field methods and has great potential to assist future monitoring efforts of river herring abundance and habitat use