Monitoring environmental DNA (eDNA)

Riding Mountain National Park

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Riding Mountain National Park - Manitoba

Over the winter of 2022/23 Parks Canada staff learned about the presence of zebra mussel eDNA in Clear Lake.

While no zebra mussels have been found, staff have increased monitoring and sampling of lake water.

Park staff have been working with members of the Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation.

This is what that work has looked like…

Arrive bright and early!

Time to get packed up

Gear has been specially cleaned

Partners from Keeseekoowenin are supporting the work

Shelters are used to keep equipment from freezing up

Drilling the hole to collect the samples

Equipment must be kept very clean

Reviewing today's sites

A Kemmerer is used to collect water samples

A weight is used to close the sampler

Samples are collected in sterile bags and transported to the lab

An ultra-clean lab space has been set up

Pumps are set up to filter the samples

DNA in the water is collected on filters

The filtering process

A used filter (left) compared to a new filter (right)

Filters are preserved for different kinds of tests

A lab in Winnipeg tests filters for zebra mussel DNA

When one site is complete, on to the next!

So far no other evidence of zebra mussels has been detected.

Parks Canada staff will continue to work hard to prevent zebra mussels - or any other invasive species - from becoming established in

Riding Mountain National Park

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Current monitoring using the best science to inform evidence-based decisions about Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) prevention and management.