eDNA sampling was carried out across the pristine giant kelp forests of the Falkland Islands. It was part of a wider effort to set biodiversity benchmarks for kelp forest restoration around the world. In this remote region, eDNA gave ecosystem-scale insights and revealed hidden diversity. The results provide a blueprint for pristine kelp forest health, to be used in developing universal kelp ecosystem health metrics.

The Falkland Islands host some of the world’s most pristine giant kelp forests, but their remoteness means they have been little studied. Kelp Forest Foundation aims to survey these unique habitats while they remain intact and set benchmarks for restoration worldwide.

The remote location created major logistical barriers. Traditional, expert-led monitoring was not possible within the short timescale required.

The Foundation needed a practical way to survey quickly and produce biodiversity insights across the tree of life, without sending a full team of taxonomic experts into the field.

NatureMetrics sent aquatic eDNA sampling kits to the Falklands. Local collaborators, including Kelp Forest Foundation MSc scholars, were trained to collect the samples, and no taxonomic expertise was needed in the field. The samples were analysed at NatureMetrics’ UK laboratory, giving comprehensive biodiversity insights across the tree of life from a remote location.

Our DNA analysis found 389 species across the whole tree of life. They ranged from penguins and southern elephant seals to fish, sponges, shellfish, jellyfish and sea stars. Many were lesser-known tiny organisms that almost certainly play a range of roles in keeping the ecosystem healthy. This whole-ecosystem dataset gives a valuable baseline of pristine kelp forest health.

The project shows how eDNA can bring in local stakeholders to produce rigorous, ecosystem-scale biodiversity data quickly and efficiently, even in the most remote and logistically difficult environments.

The data will feed into global modelling that combines results from other kelp forests around the world. This will show how biological communities in giant kelp habitats respond to stressors such as climate change.

The Falklands baseline will anchor this modelling. It will help create simple, accurate metrics of ecosystem health that can measure how well conservation, restoration and sustainable use of giant kelp forests are working. These metrics will guide kelp ecosystem management worldwide.