Environmental DNA is one of the most promising new tools in the aquatic biodiversity monitoring toolkit, with particular appeal for applications requiring assessment of target taxa at very low population densities. And yet there persists considerable anxiety within the management community regarding the appropriateness of environmental DNA monitoring for certain tasks and the degree to which environmental DNA methods can deliver information relevant to management needs. This brief perspective piece is an attempt to address that anxiety by offering some advice on how end-users might best approach these new technologies. I do not here review recent developments in environmental DNA science, but rather I explore ways in which managers and decision-makers might become more comfortable adopting environmental DNA tools-or choosing not to adopt them, should circumstances so dictate. I attempt to contextualize the central challenges associated with acceptance of environmental DNA detection by contrasting them with traditional "catch-and-look" approaches to biodiversity monitoring. These considerations lead me to recommend the cultivation of four "virtues," attitudes that can be brought into engagement with environmental DNA surveillance technologies that I hope will increase the likelihood that those engagements will be positive and that the future development and application of environmental DNA tools will further the cause of wise management.

中文翻译：

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如何学会不再担心和热爱环境DNA监测

环境 DNA 是水生生物多样性监测工具包中最有前途的新工具之一，特别适用于需要在极低人口密度下评估目标分类群的应用。然而，对于某些任务的环境 DNA 监测的适当性以及环境 DNA 方法可以提供与管理需求相关的信息的程度，管理界仍然存在相当大的焦虑。这篇简短的观点文章试图通过提供一些关于最终用户如何最好地接近这些新技术的建议来解决这种焦虑。我在此不回顾环境 DNA 科学的最新发展，而是探索管理人员和决策者可能更愿意采用环境 DNA 工具或选择不采用它们的方式，如果情况如此决定。我试图通过将与接受环境 DNA 检测相关的核心挑战与生物多样性监测的传统“捕捉和观察”方法进行对比，将其置于背景中。这些考虑促使我建议培养四种“美德”，即可以与环境 DNA 监测技术接触的态度，我希望这将增加这些参与的可能性以及环境 DNA 工具的未来开发和应用将进一步推动明智管理的事业。生物多样性监测的方法。这些考虑促使我建议培养四种“美德”，即可以与环境 DNA 监测技术接触的态度，我希望这将增加这些参与的可能性以及环境 DNA 工具的未来开发和应用将进一步推动明智管理的事业。生物多样性监测的方法。这些考虑促使我建议培养四种“美德”，即可以与环境 DNA 监测技术接触的态度，我希望这将增加这些参与的可能性以及环境 DNA 工具的未来开发和应用将进一步推动明智管理的事业。