A decade of ABOL – new paper!

Looking Back on a Decade of ABOL: Coordinating a National Biodiversity Initiative

How can a country’s biological diversity be systematically documented – and what does it take to turn a research initiative into a sustainable, long-term network?

Since 2014, the Austrian Barcode of Life (ABOL) Initiative has been dedicated to systematically documenting Austria’s animal, plant, and fungal diversity using DNA barcoding. Over the past decade, much more has developed than a repository of genetic reference data: ABOL has evolved into a nationwide network connecting research, biological collections, protected areas, scientific societies, and citizen science.

In our new publication, Evolving ABOL (the Austrian Barcode of Life Initiative): Reflections on a Decade of Coordinating a National Biodiversity Initiative, we, the ABOL coordination team, take stock of the years 2014 to 2025.

The paper shows how ABOL has been established and further developed – from data infrastructures and reference data to new applications of DNA barcoding and participatory formats such as the ABOL BioBlitzes. At the same time, it highlights the importance of long-term collaboration across institutions and disciplines for comprehensive biodiversity documentation.

ABOL thus serves as an example of an integrative approach to biodiversity research: taxonomic expertise meets molecular methods, digital infrastructures, and public participation.

But the publication does not only look back. In view of the ongoing loss of biodiversity, it also asks what role ABOL can play in the future and in the long term in implementing national and international biodiversity targets.

Read the full article now and look back on ten years of ABOL:

Szucsich NU., Sonnleitner M, Ackerl F, Kargl V, Heinzl J, Hörweg C & Haring E (2026). Evolving ABOL (the Austrian Barcode of Life Initiative): Reflections on a Decade of Coordinating a National Biodiversity Initiative. Acta ZooBot Austria 162, 45–71.