A Long-­Term Ecological Research Data Set From the Marine Genetic Monitoring Program ARMS-­MBON 2018–2020

Published February 4, 2025 | Version v1

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A Long-Term Ecological Research Data Set From the Marine Genetic Monitoring Program ARMS-MBON 2018–2020

1. Flanders Marine Institute
2. University of the Basque Country
3. Hellenic Centre for Marine Research
4. University of Bristol
5. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
6. CNRS
7. Ionian University
8. University of Helsinki
9. Sheba Medical Center
10. KU Leuven
11. Nord University
12. European Marine Biological Resource Centre
13. Hellenic Centre for Marine Research - Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture
14. Aarhus University
15. University of Cambridge
16. University of British Columbia
17. British Antarctic Survey
18. Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier
19. Rega Institute for Medical Research

Molecular methods such as DNA/eDNA metabarcoding have emerged as useful tools to document the biodiversity of complex commu-

nities over large spatio-temporal scales. We established an international Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (ARMS- MBON)

combining standardised sampling using autonomous reef monitoring structures (ARMS) with metabarcoding for genetic monitoring

of marine hard- bottom benthic communities. Here, we present the data of our first sampling campaign comprising 56 ARMS units

deployed in 2018–2019 and retrieved in 2018–2020 across 15 observatories along the coasts of Europe and adjacent regions. We de-

scribe the open- access data set (image, genetic and metadata) and explore the genetic data to show its potential for marine biodiversity

monitoring and ecological research. Our analysis shows that ARMS recovered more than 60 eukaryotic phyla capturing diversity of

up to ~5500 amplicon sequence variants and ~1800 operational taxonomic units, and up to ~250 and ~50 species per observatory using

the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 18S rRNA marker genes, respectively. Further, ARMS detected threatened, vulnerable

and non- indigenous species often targeted in biological monitoring. We show that while deployment duration does not drive diversity

estimates, sampling effort and sequencing depth across observatories do. We recommend that ARMS should be deployed for at least

3–6 months during the main growth season to use resources as efficiently as possible and that post- sequencing curation is applied to

enable statistical comparison of spatio- temporal entities. We suggest that ARMS should be used in biological monitoring programs

and long- term ecological research and encourage the adoption of our ARMS- MBON protocols.

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European Commission
POMP - Polar Ocean Mitigation Potential 101136875
European Commission
EOSC-Life - Providing an open collaborative space for digital biology in Europe 824087
European Commission
ASSEMBLE Plus - Association of European Marine Biological Laboratories Expanded 730984