Metarbarcoding reveals distribution patterns of DNA in surface sediments of a large lake

Lake sedimentary ancient DNA has become a recognized source of information on past biodiversity change, but our understanding of its distribution and taphonomy is still limited. Here we collected 40 surface sediment samples from Lake Constance in southern Germany and characterized sedimentary DNA (sedDNA) heterogeneity through four metabarcoding PCRs on general eukaryotes, vascular plants, cyanobacteria and copepods.  We observed the variability of overall sedDNA being strongly correlated with sediment sample geographical locations, although this pattern varies within taxonomic groups. Specifically, geographical coordination and water depth explain 10.7% variability of terrestrial vascular plant sedDNA distribution, but the distribution of copepods is patchy and not correlated with sampling locations. Out study indicates that sedDNA is not distributed uniformly across the lake but rather linked to the movement of lake water and the local presence of the organisms.