The routine generation of species distribution data \textit{at scale} remains a challenge. We used aquatic environmental DNA metabarcoding to sample vertebrate species across the 30,000 sqkm Gaoligongshan region along the China-Myanmar border. In just 56 calendar days (33 researcher-field-days + 69 researcher-lab-days), we detected 389 vertebrate species, of which 35 are Red-Listed. We introduce the ‘eDNA-aware’ OccPlus occupancy model, which accounts for false-negative and false-positive...