BARCODING LTER BIODIVERSITY: A CASE STUDY AND APPLICATIONS IN LTER SABOR (PORTUGAL)

BARCODING LTER BIODIVERSITY: A CASE STUDY AND APPLICATIONS IN LTER SABOR (PORTUGAL)

Pedro Beja (CIBIO-InBIO, Portugal) | October 9, 2016 | 1st ILTER Global Open Science Meeting, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Understanding the drivers of long-term biodiversity change at local, regional and global scales require detailed information on the diversity, composition and structure of biological communities, and on species interactions. For most species groups, this information is often scarce due to high biological diversity and limited taxonomic expertise. High throughput DNA sequencing is revolutionizing the capacity to address this problem, by providing a relatively simple and inexpensive approach to identify virtually all individuals from every species occurring in any area. Here we explore the potential of this new technique using as case study the LTER Sabor (NE Portugal), describing an initiative for barcoding every species, and the application of next-generation metabarcoding (Illumina platform) to understand drivers of biodiversity across scales. Preliminary biodiversity surveys have inventoried ~2000 taxa until now, and we have completed the barcoding of ~1000 species of arthropods identified by expert taxonomists, but these figures are growing fast. Sequenced specimens are kept as vouchers for future reference, and DNA sequences are made freely available on the Bold platform (http://v4.boldsystems.org/). We are using DNA sequencing information to unravel cryptic diversity and to assess the potential of barcodes to achieve species-level identification. Based on this reference collection of species barcodes, we are using sequencing of bulk samples (i.e., complex mixtures of species) to understand the responses of invertebrate communities to land abandonment and how aquatic macroinvertebrates communities vary in relation to natural and anthropogenic drivers. Studies of trophic interactions based on metabarcoding have already revealed an interesting link between a bat (Tadarida teniotis) and high-flying migratory moths (e.g. Autographa gamma), and are clarifying the role of semi-aquatic insectivore birds and mammals in aquatic food chains. Using these studies as examples, we make the case for a wider use of metabarcoding in the ILTER network.