Benthic macroinvertebrates are widely used when monitoring an ecosystem because they live in a variety of habitats, are abundant and diverse, are relatively immobile, and are responsive to environmental stresses. They also act as primary consumers and their relative abundances and distribution can reflect the environmental stresses acting on all animals above the food chain. Here, I aim to shed light on the water quality in the wetlands of Ontario by understanding the invertebrate biodiversity and the changes in the community composition using DNA barcoding and metabarcoding of the invertebrates collected with the kick net technique.
