{"accessLevel": "public", "bureauCode": ["010:12"], "contactPoint": {"@type": "vcard:Contact", "fn": "Muruleedhara Byappanahalli", "hasEmail": "mailto:byappan@usgs.gov"}, "description": "This dataset is associated with an examination of environmental DNA (eDNA) obtained from freshwater matrices (i.e. benthic algae, sediment, and near bottom water) collected by scuba divers from previously established transects located along the U.S. shoreline of Lakes: Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing (i.e., targeting bacterial communities) and high-throughput quantitative PCR targeting various N-cycle associated genes [the Nitrogen Cycle Evaluation (NiCE) chip] were performed to assess potential abundance and diversity of microbes involved in nitrogen transformations including nitrogen fixation. Sample-associated sequences are available in NCBI Bioproject: PRJNA1253336.\nAll eDNA samples for this dataset were collected alongside a larger body of work conducted in 2022 (https://doi.org/10.5066/P13JDUMH) and relate to multiple years of work at these stations: briefly, algal and dreissenid mussel biomass, water quality assessments, and diver observations of dreissenid mussels, round gobies, benthic substrate, and benthic algal cover. We refer to the benthic algae also as the \u2018Cladophora community\u2019 and \u2018submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV)\u2019 in other published project data, which were collected starting in 2018 (Great Lakes Science Center, 2018).", "distribution": [{"@type": "dcat:Distribution", "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.5066/P132OSRC", "description": "Landing page for access to the data", "format": "XML", "mediaType": "application/http", "title": "Digital Data"}, {"@type": "dcat:Distribution", "description": "The metadata original format", "downloadURL": "https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/metadata/USGS.670fd167d34edd2692096021.xml", "format": "XML", "mediaType": "text/xml", "title": "Original Metadata"}], "identifier": "http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_670fd167d34edd2692096021", "keyword": ["DNA sequencing", "Great Lakes Region", "Lake Erie", "Lake Huron", "Lake Michigan", "Lake Ontario", "USGS:670fd167d34edd2692096021", "algae", "algal blooms", "archaea", "bacteria", "benthic ecosystems", "biota", "community ecology", "environment", "environmental DNA", "field sampling", "freshwater ecosystems", "inlandWaters", "microbes", "nitrogen", "nuisance species", "nutrient content (water)", "nutrient cycling", "species diversity"], "modified": "2025-07-10T00:00:00Z", "publisher": {"@type": "org:Organization", "name": "U.S. Geological Survey"}, "spatial": "-87.8906, 41.6565, -77.2119, 45.7369", "theme": ["geospatial"], "title": "Potential for microbially mediated nitrogen transformations in benthic algae, sediment, and overlying water in the Great Lakes, 2022"}