Flow of eDNA Results

This example diagram illustrates the general flow of eDNA results and how the information is passed internally before being made available to external clients.

The internal process can take several days. The eDNA results are sent to the lab technician, then to the lab’s principal investigator (PI) and ultimately to the lab’s point of contact (POC). It’s then decided if the results are considered high profile or controversial by the resource manager. If they're considered high profile or controversial, the results are then moved along to DOI or an agency POC. If not, you continue to the next step.

Once the results have passed through the DOI or an agency POC or are not controversial, you must consider “is the client the jurisdictional authority?”

From here, the process moves to external sharing, which can take weeks until completion. “Is the client the jurisdictional authority?” If no, the results are sent to the client, who then sends the results to the jurisdictional authority. If the client is the jurisdictional authority, then the results are sent to them.

Once the jurisdictional authority has the results, they are sent to the USGS eNAS database (when dealing with invasive species). If eNAS gets anything, they send automated alerts to the relevant jurisdictional authority before any public posting. The results are then passed along to agency and Tribal partners and finally to media release. Once the results are in the USGS eNAS database, the final step is to post the results publicly.