I think I know the answer to the question but cannot find anything relevant in literature searches. Ive used 18s V7 for eDNA metabarcoding exercise. My interest is Macroalgae which first have a free living haploid phase. I want to include this in my argument for not using the replication count of eDNA as an indication of abundance. Ie the adult sporophyte will only contribute a pair of this gene to the environment as Detritus but if its reproductive season there could be many failed haploid gametophytes and zoospores deposited on the sediment. If a gametophyte isnt fertilised there could also be individuals that grow as haploid through vegetative growth (Multi Annual Delayed growth). My thought is that this confounds any concept of one sequence count one organism (there are many other confounding factors but I just want to explore this one