Wilder Humber – eDNA, Sediment & Water Sampling
The Humber is one of the largest estuaries in the British Isles and so unsurprisingly hosts large populations of marine and avian life. However, like many areas in the UK, the native species and habitats have been damaged by various anthropogenic activities.
The Wilder Humber project hopes to buck this trend. A collaboration between Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, and energy company Ørsted, the project aims to restore the struggling habitats and species of the estuary, particularly saltmarsh, seagrass and native oyster reef.
As part of this project, Exo have been contracted to monitor the biodiversity at 2 sites on opposing sides of the Humber: one at Horseshoe Point in Lincolnshire, and the other at Spurn Point in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
This monitoring focuses specifically on the collection of environmental DNA (eDNA), which is simply the genetic material released by an organism.
This material can be collected from both sediment and water samples, depending on the types of organism you are aiming to detect. For example, water is more useful for identifying vertebrates like fish, whilst sediment is better for invertebrates, microbes and benthic species, such as crustaceans and molluscs.
In the case of this project, both types of samples were taken. Surveys were carried out in the summer and winter to assess seasonal differences, altogether ensuring the widest understanding possible of the Humber’s biodiversity.
Having already conducted the first set of surveying in August 2024, the Exo team headed up north earlier this week to collect environmental DNA samples again.
Unlike the summer, it had been decided that only sediment samples should be taken in the winter survey. As you can see in the photos, our team were blessed with some rare February sunshine!
Sediment samples were collected from the surface layer of predetermined 1m2 plot within designated restoration areas at each site, as well as from control areas nearby.
These samples were then transported safely back to Norfolk, where they were then delivered to Applied Genomics in Norwich for full laboratory analysis.
This winter we also trialled novel analysis techniques to detect fish and other vertebrates from these sediment samples, which had previously only been possible with water samples.
The results of this will be used to produce a full report comparing the findings of both summer and winter surveys. This will be presented to Wilder Humber to inform the next steps of the project.
We are scheduled to repeat this monitoring in the next year and are excited to see what the future may hold.
If you would like to find out more about the eDNA, sediment or water sampling surveys we offer, please get in touch.