An assessment of the fungal conservation value of Hardcastle Crags using NextGen DNA sequencing (NECR258)

The aim of this study was to investigate soil fungal populations and thereby assess the conservation importance of the various grassland sites in the Hardcastle Crags area, West Yorkshire using NextGen sequencing. Additionally, this study allowed Natural England to evaluate the potential of DNA metabarcoding of soil eDNA as a method for the assessment of biodiversity of fungi (and potentially other soil organisms).