SynthesisMolecular ecology2019
How quantitative is metabarcoding: A meta-analytical approach.
Synthesis in Molecular ecology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 111 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
111 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Transforming gastrointestinal helminth parasite identification in vertebrate hosts with metabarcoding: a systematic review.Parasites & vectors · 2024Pooled it
- Meta-analysis shows both congruence and complementarity of DNA and eDNA metabarcoding to traditional methods for biological community assessment.Molecular ecology · 2022Pooled it
- How quantitative is metabarcoding: A meta-analytical approach.Molecular ecology · 2019Pooled it
- Antimicrobial treatment of egg-infested olives is associated with perturbation and carry-over changes on bacterial communities in the olive fly Bactrocera oleae (Diptera, Tephritidae).Journal of insect science (Online) · 2026Article
- Simultaneous identification of multiple thrips species (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) from sticky traps using DNA metabarcoding.Journal of economic entomology · 2026Article
- Unravelling Bulk Ichthyoplankton Diversity in Vietnam: Metabarcoding Validation With Controlled Mock Samples.Molecular ecology resources · 2026Article
- Intraguild Interactions Drive the Dynamics of a Complex Community of Globally Invasive Ant Species.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Phylogenetic Authentication of Amplicon Sequence Variants in Single-Specimen Metabarcoding of Tropical Insects.Molecular ecology resources · 2026Article
- Comparing Accuracy and Biases of DNA Metabarcoding, Hybridization Capture, and Metagenomic Sequencing for Quantifying Herbivore Diets.Molecular ecology resources · 2026Article
- A Scalable and Cost-Effective In-Line Barcoding Strategy for Standardized 16S rRNA Gene Amplicon Sequencing: Performance Evaluation and Bias Assessment.Molecular ecology resources · 2026Article
- Fine-Scale Ecological Biomonitoring in a Large, Complex Agriculturally Impacted Watershed via eDNA Metabarcoding.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Bite-DNA Shows Substantial Browsing on Willows (Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Limitations of Common Molecular Markers in Fungal Biodiversity Analysis and the Benefits of Their Synergistic Use.Molecular ecology resources · 2026Article
- Research Progress in Bat Dietary Analysis: Methods, Applications, and Future Perspectives.Biology · 2026Review
- Metabarcoding reveals striking dietary variation in a reintroduced mesocarnivore.Journal of mammalogy · 2026Article
- Haplotype-level analysis of environmental DNA metabarcoding revealed the biogeography and phylogeography of freshwater fishes in Korean Peninsula.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- A molecular assessment of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities associated with North AfricanMycoKeys · 2026Article
- Evaluating the Quantitative Accuracy and Application of DNA Metabarcoding for Dietary Reconstruction in Ruminants.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Dietary DNA Metabarcoding From Animal Fecal Samples.Current protocols · 2026Article
51 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Metabarcoding has been used in a range of ecological applications such as taxonomic assignment, dietary analysis and the analysis of environmental DNA. However, after a decade of use in these applications there is little consensus on the extent to which proportions of reads generated corresponds to the original proportions of species in a community. To quantify our current understanding, we conducted a structured review and meta-analysis. The analysis suggests that a weak quantitative relationship may exist between the biomass and sequences produced (slope = 0.52 ± 0.34, p < 0.01), albeit with a large degree of uncertainty. None of the tested moderators, sequencing platform type, the number of species used in a trial or the source of DNA, were able to explain the variance. Our current understanding of the factors affecting the quantitative performance of metabarcoding is still limited: additional research is required before metabarcoding can be confidently utilized for quantitative applications. Until then, we advocate the inclusion of mock communities when metabarcoding as this facilitates direct assessment of the quantitative ability of any given study.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.