Environmental DNA (eDNA), the nuclear or mitochondrial DNA shed from an organism into its environment, is a rapidly evolving tool for monitoring the distribution of aquatic species. A new study published in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society discusses the ability of eDNA to accurately predict the presence, relative abundance, and biomass of wild Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) populations. The study concluded that eDNA was an effective way to measure aquatic singles-species populations….Read more

Graphical function mapping provides a simple method for improving communication within interdisciplinary research teams and between scientists and nonscientists. This article introduces graphical function mapping using two examples and discusses its usefulness. Function mapping projects the outcome of one function into another to show the combined effect. Using this mathematical property in a simpler, even cartoon-like, graphical way allows the rapid combination of multiple information sources…Read more

This site is a companion for the AFS book Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes. Increasingly biologists are adopting these methods so they will be able to compare their data to those collected by other organizations, in other regions, or across time. Read more information about standard sampling in general and how these techniques were developed; comment on specific techniques so those working on future editions can incorporate your ideas; compare your fish data to North American, ecoregion, state, and provincial averages and percentiles; and catch up on the latest research on the validation or “ground truthing” of specific standard methods.