Meetings – ABOL – The Austrian Barcode of Life

Gruppenfoto TdA Hohe Tauern. Foto: M. Sonnleitner

The last BioBlitz this year was carried out by ABOL in the course of the Biodiversity Day in the Hohe Tauern National Park. The study area ranged from montane to alpine altitudes in the upper Mur valley in the national park municipality of Muhr im Lungau. The JUFA Hotel in St. Michael, the Sticklerhütte and the Rotgüldenseehütte served as bases. A total of 64 experts on 25 different groups of organisms took part in the Biodiversity Day; many of them also participated in the ABOL BioBlitz.

Unfortunately, heavy rainfalls accompanied the event – not a good precondition for successful surveys. On the one hand, many species were not active and also the experts had problems to move forward in the often steep and slippery terrain. Nevertheless, due to persistence and creativity a considerable number of species could again be detected. As planned, some researchers set up their light traps already on Friday evening to attract nocturnal insects – especially butterflies. Fortunately, the temperatures did not drop very much, so that many, mostly characteristic mountain species, could already be surveyed during this action. In addition, five bat species were detected by sound detectors. Naturally, most of the species were recorded by the botanists, which were able to work even in bad weather by the persevering group. The data recording in this case was mainly done via the app ObsMapp (observation.org).

In the course of a pleasant get-together at the JUFA Hotel on Sunday morning, the results and findings of the last two days were discussed, there was also opportunity to exchange ideas with other experts and and to give the participants a short summary of the BioBlitzes from the past two years.

We would like to thank the National Park team for the excellent organization, the transport with shuttle busses and the nice accommodations. A big thank you from our side also to all who participated again in the ABOL-BioBlitz action!

Impressiones from the study area (Photos: M. Sonnleitner):

Path to the fountain of the Mur river. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Digitalis grandiflora. Rotgülden lake. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Argynnis paphia. Rotgülden lake. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

End of valley behind the fountain of the Mur river. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Group photo. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Dianthus carthusianorum. Rotgülden lake. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Symphyta. Rotgülden lake. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Bombus sp. Rotgülden lake. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Diptera. Rotgülden lake. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Lepidoptera. Rotgülden lake. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Eriophoretum. Upper Rotgülden lake. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Dianthus superbus. Rotgülden lake. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Fountain of the Mur river. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Gomphocerus sibiricus. Rotgülden lake. TdA Hohe Tauern. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

28. July, 2021/by Michaela Sonnleitner

ABOL meeting 2021 – Save the date

Highlights, Meetings

Dear ABOL Community

We would like to continue the tradition of annual ABOL conferences. The 8^th ABOL meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 30^th, 2021 following the Forum on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services at the Danube University Krems. The two events will again be organized together as Days of Biodiversity. We hope that face-to-face events are possible, but if necessary we will hold them ONLINE.

We will keep you informed and ask you to save the date!

*** It is planned to hold the Days of Biodiversity 2021 as a Green Meeting. ***

Best regards,

the ABOL coordination team

25. June, 2021/by Michaela Sonnleitner

Christoph Leeb

First ABOL BioBlitz at the “Donauinsel” in Vienna

Highlights, ABOL BioBlitz, Meetings

The first ABOL BioBlitz 2021 took place on June 11th and 12th, at the Danube Island (Donauinsel) during the 20th Vienna Day of Biodiversity organized by the departments of the municipality of Vienna for environmental protection and water. Numerous biodiversity experts swarmed out to record the fauna, flora and funga of the Donauinsel, especially in the area of Wehr 1 and Tritonwasser, whereby samples were also collected for the creation of DNA barcodes.

Experts met on Friday evening to attract moths and other nocturnal insects with numerous light traps. On Saturday, when the weather was mostly fine, the well-developed, species-rich meadows around the basecamp were investigated. Not only the honey bee was strongly represented on the numerous flowering Knautia individuals but also the solitary bee Andrena hattorfiana, which is an oligolectic species feeding on Knautia pollen and a few other Dipsacaceae. Even the parasite of A. hattorfiana, Nomada armata, could be detected. Numerous other insect species were found in the meadows. The nearby Triton water with beautiful silting zones in which water frogs could be found in large numbers was particularly interesting for the amphibia experts. It is particularly gratifying that – although the data reporting has not yet been completed – with Trigoniophthalmus alternatus, a representative of the large group of bristletails, a new record for Vienna has already been booked.
Unfortunately, due to the corona pandemic, no public event could take place this year, but it should be rescheduled at the same place next year.
We would like to thank the organizers and the participants of the ABOL BioBlitz!

Impressions from the study area (Photos: N. Szucsich, C. Leeb, M. Sonnleitner):

Species rich meadow at Donauinsel. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Tritonwasser (Donauinsel). Photo: Christoph Leeb

Orobanche gracilis, Donauinsel. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Dioctria linearis, Tritonwasser. Foto: M. Sonnleitner

Lithosia quadra, Donauinsel. Photo: N. Szucsich

Libellula fulva, Donauinsel. Photo: N. Szucsich

Light trap, Donauinsel. Photo: N. Szucsich

Nesting holes of pumpkinseeds (Lepomis gibbosus). Photo: Christoph Leeb

Nuphar lutea, Tritonwasser, Donauinsel. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Orthetrum coerulescens, Keeled skimmer. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus), Tritonwasser. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Base camp at Donauinsel. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Malva sylvestris, Donauinsel. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Knautia arvensis, species rich meadow at Donauinsel. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Neue Donau and Donauinsel (left). Photo: Christoph Leeb

Tritonwasser, Donauinsel. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Azure damselfly (Coenagrion puella). Photo: Christoph Leeb

Water frog, Tritonwasser, Donauinsel. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Water frog (Pelophylax sp.). Photo: Christoph Leeb

Tritonwasser, Donauinsel. Photo: N. Szucsich

Andrena hattorfiana on Knautia arvensis. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Species rich meadow, Donauinsel. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

22. June, 2021/by Michaela Sonnleitner

ABOL BioBlitz 2021

Highlights, ABOL BioBlitz, Meetings

After two successful runs in 2019 and 2020 ABOL BioBlitzes are already well known in the community . This year we will again take part in the Days of Biodiversity and call collectors to take part in the ABOL BioBlitz campaign. The aim is to sample collected and determined animals (especially insects) for genetic analysis. Thereby, added value can be created – we can contribute to the DNA barcoding database, secure the determination and convey an innovative method.

More information: ABOL BioBlitz 2021

For the first time this year, we are also offering Data Workshops in which the handling of DNA barcoding data and the international BOLD database can be learned and practiced. The online workshops can be attended by collectors and other interested persons. The dates are set as required. If you are interested, please send an email to Oliver.Macek@nhm-wien.ac.at.

More information: Data workshops

6. April, 2021/by Michaela Sonnleitner

Workshops “BOLD & Data analysis”

Highlights, Meetings, Workshops

The new ABOL workshop offer “BOLD & data analysis” has started successfully.

In February, the first two workshops familiarized already a total of 28 participants with the international Barcode of Life Database (BOLD) and enabled them to get insights into the analysis tools of this platform. During the workshops the participants had the opportunity to work actively with the platform and practice the interpretation of the DNA barcoding data.
The online format of the workshops facilitated cross-border participation – members from a total of 15 institutes were represented from Austria, Germany, Croatia and Italy. Due to the different levels of knowledge, from DNA barcoding newbies to veterans, lively discussions developed about the BOLD, its various functions, details and possibilities and the topic of DNA barcoding in general.
Equipped with introductory information, the participants were able to use a test data set to cope with simple and advanced exercises autonomously and to experience the most common situations on BOLD themselves. BOLD offers good possibilities to solve (simple) DNA barcode analyzes without much effort. In addition, individual and special questions from the participants were addressed, such as the topic of DNA barcoding of museum material, data upload to BOLD & communication with other BOLD users, as well as the weak points of the platform.
Furthermore, we wanted to show how important good data quality is for the usability of a reference database and that BOLD promotes this approach, but the community is just as responsible for constantly improving the quality.

We are very pleased, that the participants also took the chance to strengthen the network of the Austrian and neighbouring biodiversity community in the course of these ABOL workshops.
The next workshop is on March 26^th, and more workshops will certainly follow in the future! If you are interested, please contact Oliver Macek by email!

Current information about the workshops can be found on our website:

Website - Data Workshop

11. March, 2021/by Michaela Sonnleitner

ABOL meeting 2020 ONLINE – a retrospect

Highlights, Meetings

Under the title Days of Biodiversity 2020, the ABOL meeting took place this year together with the 3^rd Austrian Forum on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services as an online event.

During the pre-phase, various topics were discussed in workshops, the results of which, together with other interesting lectures, were presented in the Biodiversity Forum on December 4^th.
The last day of the event was dedicated to the ABOL meeting. With – as usual – quite diverse contributions regarding organisms and methods, the 7^th annual meeting gave an impressive overview of the various activities within the initiative. The national networks were further strengthened through the exchange beyond the individual areas of interest. The online format also gave the conference more international visibility. We are very pleased that Dr. Katrin Vohland, Director General of the Natural History Museum Vienna, opened the ABOL meeting and underlined the important role of her institition in national and international biodiversity agendas. She also emphasized the importance of participating in EU-wide initiatives such as DiSSCo (Distributed System of Scientific Collections) and the EOSC (European Open Science Cloud) in Austria. The the morning session was devoted to the activities in ABOL and GBOL. We would like to thank our colleagues from GBOL for their interesting keynote on the recently launched Dark Taxa project, which will be of importance for many activities throughout Europe and not least ABOL will benefit from it. At the end of the morning session, Dr. Karolina Begusch-Pfefferkorn from the Federal Ministry of Science (BMBWF) gave a first insights into the European Partnerships in Horizon Europe, a very promising initiative. The afternoon sessions with a total of 13 flash talks were dedicated to a wide variety of DNA barcoding projects and applications. Covering a broad range of topices and geography they were met with great interest.
The almost 190 registrations for the Zoom-Meeting exceeded all previous ABOL meetings and the sessions were equally well attended!

We would like to thank all speakers, all participants, our sponsors and especially Heidi Weinhäupl and the organizing team of the Days of Biodiversity 2020 at the DonauUni Krems for the great cooperation!

Your ABOL coordination team

11. December, 2020/by Michaela Sonnleitner

ABOL meeting 2020 – programme

Highlights, Meetings

Dear ABOL Community,

the conference program for the ABOL meeting is now complete. We are happy about the many interesting contributions that have been submitted!

Registration for the ABOL meeting is possible until the meeting!

Registration

programme-abol-meeting3-forweb

Download Abstracts

We look forward to an interesting event in a format that is new to us!

Your ABOL coordination team

24. November, 2020/by Michaela Sonnleitner

ABOL meeting 2020 ONLINE – Call for Abstracts

Highlights, Meetings

Dear ABOL Community,

probably not surprising to anyone, we decided to hold the Days of Biodiversity ONLINE.
We kindly ask for contributions for the 7^th ABOL meeting – either for talks of 20 minutes (+ 10 minutes discussion) or for flash talks of 5 minutes (+ 3 minutes of discussion). Please register and send your abstract to abol@nhm-wien.ac.at by November 15. The conference language at the ABOL meeting is English (German at the Biodiversity Forum).
Participation is free this year – however we kindly ask for donations -> here!
For more information about the ABOL meeting visit our conference page: https://www.abol.ac.at/en/abol-meeting-2020/

The 3^rd Austrian Forum on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services will also take place online for the first time this year (Forum Dec. 4, 2020 / Pre-Workshops Nov. 23-30, 2020). Registration will be possible from next Wednesday, October 28, 2020.
The call for posters is open until November 11, 2020.
Further information here: https://www.biodiversityaustria.at/tage-der-biodiversitaet-2020/

We look forward to exciting days together despite the changed circumstances!

Your ABOL coordination team

23. October, 2020/by Michaela Sonnleitner

ABOL BioBlitz in the municipality of Kössen, Tyrol

Highlights, ABOL BioBlitz, Meetings

Due to the situation, this year’s Tyrolean Day of Biodiversity was for the first time held in autumn (September 4th and 5th) and ABOL was on board again. The municipality of Kössen near the Bavarian border was the chosen location. In wonderful late summer weather, the butterfly experts swarmed out on Friday evening and set up their light constructions in order to attract as many nocturnal insects as possible. On Saturday, the experts were out all day in the vicinity of Kössen to record and collect animals and plants. The study areas were very diverse: The Kaltenbachmoos – a peat bog, the Entenlochklamm / “Antenloch” – an impressive gorge, the Loferberg – a largely wooded area, and the region near the Straubingerhaus – a mosaic of montane forests and pastures. A special highlight was the rafting excursion in the Entenlochklamm, during which river banks and caves were screened for traces of mammals. E.g. beaver, marten, otter and fox tracks were sighted, supplemented by the discovery of a dead water shrew.
The expert café, the presentation of the results and the dinner gave us the opportunity to exchange ideas and for networking. Thanks to all experts for providing tissue samples for DNA barcoding, as well as to the organization team for the smooth organization and the good food!

Impressions from the study area (Photos: S. Schoder, M. Sonnleitner):

Arum maculatum, Entenlochklamm. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

Bumblebee, Entenlochklamm. Photo: M. Sonnleitner

1. October, 2020/by Michaela Sonnleitner

ABOL BioBlitz in the National Park Hohe Tauern

Highlights, ABOL BioBlitz, Meetings

Like last year, ABOL again participated with a BioBlitz campaign in the day of biodiversity (Tag der Artenvielfalt) in the National Park Hohe Tauern. The experts met from 17^th to 19^th July in the Tyrolean part of the Hohe Tauern, in the Umbaltal – a vallay with lonely side valleys and a wide range of habitats up to the glacier region. After registration in Prägraten, where also general information was given, the 66 participants swarmed out to the different investigation areas in search of various animal groups, plants and fungi. A cell phone app made data acquisition easier. When darkness fell, nocturnal insects were attracted by means of light traps at different altitudes and the calls of bats were recorded using a batcorder. Despite poor weather conditions, interesting observations could be made, and many montane to alpine species were identified. We are very happy about the great interest in genetic recording of biodiversity using DNA barcodes, especially among the numerous young participants. Many thanks on behalf of the ABOL team! Thanks also to the organization team for the smooth running, the booking of accommodations – in the Virgental or in the Clarahütte at approximately 2000 m, for the shuttle options to the starting points, as well as for the fine regional meals.

A few pictures from the study area (photos: C. Lettner, M. Sonnleitner; title photo: NPHT Hechenblaikner):