Environment Agency ‘This report Explores opportunities for applying advances in DNA and RNA technologies to improve understanding of ecosystem function and resilience. Society relies on healthy ecosystems for food, clean water, raw material and recreation. Information on those ecosystems, such as the functioning of organisms within them and their response to environmental pressures, is needed to protect and restore ecosystems to good health. Current understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is limited by available methods. DNA technologies that identify micro-organisms, animals and plants from their genetic information can reveal much about the health of ecosystems and have considerable potential to fill gaps in understanding.

The report contains a series of papers that explore the potential of DNA-based technology to improve our understanding of ecosystem function and resilience. Click here to read more