Is there a requirement for multiple kits for large water bodies?
Yes, this is definitely recommended. We suggest that triplicate or at minimum duplicate samples are taken at sites in rivers and marine environments for best results. This will maximise detection of rare species while also building confidence in the replicability of the approach for recovering the more common species. In still water (ponds and lakes) DNA does not always mix well so a subsampling approach should be adopted whereby subsamples are collected from a section of the shoreline and mixed before filtering. In a lake typically one kit will suffice for 400m of shoreline, where subsamples are collected every 20m. Where budgets may constrain the number of samples that can be collected, we work with our clients to help design a survey that will maximise the amount of information given the constrained number of samples.
