DNA-Barcoding of native ground beetles
The ground beetles (Carabidae) are a beetle family also known to the general public. At present, more than 650 species are known from Austria, but the knowledge about their exact distribution is often very limited and for some species, there are only single records. Due to the large number of species relevant for nature conservation, it is important to know the exact distribution and ideally also the abundance. DNA-barcoding data, especially in combination with metabarcoding approaches, represent a promising methodological alternative to classical taxonomic work in order to reliably determine/detect different (also closely related) taxa in a time and cost efficient way. The potential of DNA barcoding approaches for the detection of species or general diversity surveys depends of course on the quality of the underlying reference database. In this project, classical taxonomy and genetic identification will be combined to a modern biodiversity checklist.
Team
Dr. Stephan Koblmüller
(University of Graz)
Project status: active
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