A dataset on environmental DNA from an emerging periglacial lagoon in Svalbard, Arctic

Abstract

he datasets described in this article are of prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities identified from eDNA extracted from water and sediments at periglacial lagoon in the Eidembukta Bay, situated in the western part of central Svalbard. This newly formed water body constitutes a new ecosystem, composed of elements likely originating from the melting glacier, nearby tundra water bodies, and the sea. eDNA metabarcoding by amplification and sequencing 18S rRNA and 16S rRNA gene fragments was employed at 8 sampling sites, representing different parts of the lagoon. In deeper sites samples were taken from upper and lower layers of water and represents different depths of the lagoon. Samples were collected during August 2022. This data can be used for providing a description of the biodiversity structure of the emerging lagoon ecosystem as well as for comparison of the different parts and different depths of the lagoon. Data is presented in following files: 1. eDNA_sample_data.csv – information about samples: amplicon Id, sample name, marker, sample depth, water layer, geographical coordinates; 2. eDNA_metabarcoding_data – each sample has two fastaq files, indicating forward (R1) and reverse (R2) reads. The study was performed in framework of the EIDEMBUKTA project (“Formation of a novel coastal lagoon ecosystem following glacier retreat in Eidembukta, Svalbard Arctic“), funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (agreement number S-MIP-22-48) with logistical and technical support from the Institute of Oceanology of Polish Academy of Sciences.