This year ABOL participated for the second time in the ÖEG insect camp with a BioBlitz. This year the four-day camp took place in the picturesque scenery of the Salzburger Kalkhochalpen of the Naturepark Weißbach and led us to species-rich mountain meadows, forest edges, swamp meadows up to alpine lawns.… Read more
The first two Days of Biodiversity took this year place in Vienna (allotment Villaweg) and Lower Austria (Klosterneuburg, Biosphere Reserve Wienerwald).
In Klosterneuburg, we were exploring species-rich meadows, natural Wienerwald brooks, or the biosphere reserve core zone “Dombachgraben” in fantastic early summer weather. In Vienna, too, the weather left nothing to be desired – only the floodlights of the nearby soccer field competed in the evening with the insect light traps and bat catching, including a night tour.… Read more

The Days of Biodiversity will be organized this year as a joint conference by ABOL, BOKU, Network Biodiversiy, NOBIS and ZooBot at BOKU in Vienna, so there will be no separate ABOL conference in 2023. The program will be very diverse and is intended to appeal to science, stakeholders and the general public.… Read more
After 2 years of virtual conferences, we were very happy to be able to hold the ABOL annual conference physically again this year. On November 18th the time had come. The 9th ABOL conference took place in the Haus für Natur, Museum Niederösterreich, after the 5th Austrian Biodiversity Forum.… Read more
DNA barcoding workshop at the University of Zambia
In early October, ABOL held a DNA barcoding workshop at the University of Zambia (UNZA) in Lusaka together with Prof. Cyprian Katongo. The workshop – as part of the OeAD cooperation development research project “DNA barcoding of Zambia’s biodiversity” (led by the University of Graz) – aimed to teach students and employees the method and applications of DNA barcoding.… Read more
Once again this year, the Biodiversity Day in the National Park Hohe Tauern was not accompanied by good weather. With gusts of wind, cold, rain and occasional windows of sunshine, dedicated experts collected biodiversity data again last weekend – this year in the Carinthian part of the National Park in the Maltatal.… Read more
The long journey was worth it: on July 8th and 9th the Day of Biodiversity, including a ABOL-BioBlitz, took place in the Ehrwald Basin/Biberwier, in the Ausserfern region of Tyrol. In the large valley basin, framed by the Wetterstein Mountains and the striking Zugspitze massif, the local bird sanctuary with the remains of a former extensive moor landscape was collected and mapped for 24 hours by experts from various groups of organisms.… Read more
One goal of ABOL is to promote taxonomic knowledge. What could be more obvious than participate in the ÖEG insect camp. For this reason, a BioBlitze took place for the first time this year apart from days of biodiversity. The four-day camp was from 23.6.… Read more
This year, the Biosphere Reserve Wienerwald once again organized a day of biodiversity – on June 10th and 11th – this time in the 16th district of Vienna, Ottakring, with some sites in the 14th district, Penzing. ABOL participated again with a BioBlitz campaign.… Read more
Dear ABOL community
We are pleased to announce that our first joint publication on the ABOL BioBlitzes has been published in Acta ZooBot (link). In this context, the DNA barcoding datasets from the BioBlitzes 2019 and 2020 were released in BOLD, the international DNA barcoding platform, and are now available to everyone (download: dx.doi.org/10.5883/DS-ABOLBB19… Read more
Subscribe to our ABOL news
Latest News
Metabarcoding-Symposium 202624. September, 2026 - 10:33Launch of an Austrian eDNA Community
The Metabarcoding Symposium, held on 17 and 18 September 2026 at the Natural History Museum Vienna, was not only a platform for professional exchange, but also marked the beginning of an Austrian eDNA community (provisionally: OeDNA). The symposium was organised by the ABOL coordination team together with Bettina Thalinger (WasserCluster Lunz) and Christoph Hahn (University of Graz).… Read more
A decade of ABOL – new paper!24. September, 2026 - 09:36Looking 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.… Read more
ABOL-BioBlitzes 2026 – from the river plain to the summit27. July, 2026 - 15:44A look back at a successful ABOL field season 2026!
Since 2019, the ABOL coordination team has been actively involved in the various Days of Biodiversity, conducting ABOL BioBlitz surveys. These surveys generate DNA barcodes and familiarize experts with this methodological approach. This year’s Days of Biodiversity were once again very popular.… Read more


M. Sonnleitner





