Tracking rapid Arctic marine changes with simple tools: e-DNA and microplastic identifiers in seabird faeces

Climate change and (micro)plastics are major concerns for the future of Arctic ecosystems. Studies on food webs and pollution as indicators of hazardous environmental impacts are, however, often complex, laborious and costly, while Arctic research benefits from short visits for data collection and minimizing disturbance to the natural environment. Novel, rapidly developing techniques using e-DNA can likely overcome this and contribute greatly to a timely understanding of important environmental changes. In this project, the focus is on collecting seabird faeces for identification of changes in food resources using e-DNA and on possible consumption of (micro)plastics.