Advancing subterranean conservation through Global Research on eDNA in Groundwaters (GReG)

Saccò, Mattia; Elmasri, Abdul; Tawal, Mahima; Alther, Roman; Altermatt, Florian; Martínez, Alejandro; Mammola, Stefano; Zagmajster, Maja; Saenz-Agudelo, Pablo; Takahashi, Miwa; Thornhill, Jake; Andouche, Aude; Baratti, Mariella; Bilal, Muhammad; Bilandžija, Helena; Bolpagni, Rossano; Boulamail, Sarah; Celico, Fulvio; Chauveau, Claire A.; Chavez, Efrain; Collard, Olivier; Cooper, Steven J. B.; Couton, Marjorie; Cozzoli, Francesco; Dawkins, Kat; Di Lorenzo, Tiziana; Dubinsky, Ximena; Hahn, Hans Jürgen; Flot, Jean-François (2025) Advancing subterranean conservation through Global Research on eDNA in Groundwaters (GReG). Subterranean Biology, 53 . pp. 31-40. ISSN 1768-1448

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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.53.165710

Abstract

If water is life, then groundwater is its lifeblood—essential, but hidden, it forms the largest reservoir of unfrozen freshwater globally. Populated by highly specialized, often relictual lineages across the tree of life, groundwater ecosystems not only support remarkable taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity (Griebler and Lueders 2009; Martínez et al. 2018; Marmonier et al. 2023), but also play a crucial role in sustaining the functioning of the global water cycle (Griebler and Avramov 2015; Saccò et al. 2024). Consequently, the protection of groundwaters as ecosystems, which can be affected by overextraction, warming or pollution, is essential. Despite this, groundwater is largely absent from policy frameworks and overlooked by large initiatives such as the European Water Framework Directive (Di Lorenzo et al. 2024) that are designed to protect the environment (Fiser et al. 2022, 2025; Griebler et al. 2023). While the human impact on above-ground global biodiversity has triggered widespread conservation responses, subterranean ecosystems continue to suffer from a lack of visibility, research attention, and regulation (Saccò et. al., 2025a). Current global knowledge on groundwater biodiversity and ecological dynamics is far from complete, hindering effective assessment and conservation efforts (Mammola et al. 2024). Regrettably, groundwater species are facing escalating cumulative threats including climate and land use change, contamination, over-extraction, heating and salinization, amongst many others (Manenti et al. 2021; Becher et al. 2022; Couton et al. 2023a; Nanni et al. 2023; Vaccarelli et al. 2023). Left unaddressed, these threats compromise not only biodiversity but also the vast number of services that groundwater ecosystems unnoticeably provide to both nature and human society (Boulton et al. 2008; Griebler and Avramov 2015; Mammola et al. 2025; Saccò et al. 2025b).

Item Type:

Article

Uncontrolled Keywords:

environmental DNA; subterranean comunities; cave biology

Subjects:

NATURAL SCIENCES > Biology

Divisions:

Division of Molecular Biology

Projects: