Unveiling biogeographical patterns of the ichthyofauna in the Tuichi basin, a biodiversity hotspot in the Bolivian Amazon, using environmental DNA

Discussion Relevance of the eDNA approach to inventory eDNA studies carried out so far on the Neotropical ichthyofauna [25–28], although limited by the size of the reference database for the mitochondrial gene 12S used, have faced varying Fig 6. NMDS ordination of the sampling sites based on the specific composition (Jaccard distance). Ordination was performed over all sampled sites including lakes and rivers (A), then using only rivers (B) or lakes (C). The convex hulls are colour coded according to the four biogeographic entities defined by the HAC. The sizes of the dot and triangle symbols for lakes and rivers respectively, are proportional to the number of taxa observed per site. Significant (p<0.01) continuous environmental variables are represented by grey arrows. The seven hydro-ecoregions are plotted as navy blue diamond points and corresponds to Glacial mountain (Cg), High peri- Amazonian Yungas (Ya-a), Amazonian gallery forest (Ab-a), Beni Gallery Forest (Ab-b), Dry valleys of the Yungas (Ay), High humid sub-Andean (Sa-a) and Low humid sub-Andean (Sa-b). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262357.g006 PLOS ONE Fish diversity and distribution in the Tuichi basin PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262357 January 4, 2022 14 / 25