India, May 4 -- A litre of water from a water body every week for a year has helped scientists to capture a snapshot of life in and around New York City, including human food consumption habits, urban wildlife and its seasonal shifts.

Scientists collected the samples from the East River, a lower Hudson River estuary surrounding the city, the largest and most densely populated coastal city in North America. They then used the vertebrate environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to analyse the water samples.

The findings indicate that urban waterways anywhere can serve as continuous biosensors, enable biodiversity tracking, influence habitat restoration outcomes and human impacts in real time, the team of scientists said.

eDNA traces are fo...