DNA sequences offer powerful tools for describing the members and interactions of natural communities. In this study, we establish the to-date most comprehensive library of DNA barcodes for a terrestrial site, including all known macroscopic animals and vascular plants of an intensively studied area of the High Arctic, the Zackenberg Valley in Northeast Greenland. To demonstrate its utility, we apply the library to identify nearly 20 000 arthropod individuals from two Malaise traps, each operated for two summers. Drawing on this material, we estimate the coverage of previous morphology-based species inventories, derive a snapshot of faunal turnover in space and time and describe the abundance and phenology of species in the rapidly changing arctic environment. Overall, 403 terrestrial animal and 160 vascular plant species were recorded by morphology-based techniques. DNA barcodes (CO1) offered high resolution in discriminating among the local animal taxa, with 92% of morphologically distinguishable taxa assigned to unique Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) and 93% to monophyletic clusters. For vascular plants, resolution was lower, with 54% of species forming monophyletic clusters based on barcode regions rbcLa and ITS2. Malaise catches revealed 122 BINs not detected by previous sampling and DNA barcoding. The insect community was dominated by a few highly abundant taxa. Even closely related taxa differed in phenology, emphasizing the need for species-level resolution when describing ongoing shifts in arctic communities and ecosystems. The DNA barcode library now established for Zackenberg offers new scope for such explorations, and for the detailed dissection of interspecific interactions throughout the community.

Arctic Research Centre Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Frederiksborgvej 399 DK 4000 Roskilde Denmark

Biodiversity Institute of Ontario University of Guelph Guelph ON N1G 2W1 Canada

Department of Agricultural Sciences University of Helsinki Latokartanonkaari 5 00790 Helsinki Finland

Department of Biology University of Eastern Finland P O Box 11 80101 Joensuu Finland

Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Ny Munkegade 114 DK 8000 Aarhus Denmark

Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Vejlsøvej 25 Silkeborg DK 8600 Denmark

Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Box 7044 750 07 Uppsala Sweden

Department of Environmental Social and Spatial Change Roskilde University Universitetsvej 1 PO Box 260 DK 4000 Roskilde Denmark

Department of Forest Pathology University of Life Sciences Wojska Polskiego 71c Poznan 60625 Poland

Department of Zoology and Fisheries Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources Czech University of Life Sciences 165 21 Praha 6 Suchdol Czech Republic

Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge CB2 3EJ UK

Division of Conservation Biology Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Ecology Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research University of Vienna Rennweg 14 1030 Vienna Austria

Fakultät Biologie Universität Bielefeld Universitätsstrasse 25 33615 Bielefeld Germany

Finnish Environment Institute Mechelininkatu 34A 00250 Helsinki Finland

Finnish Environment Institute Natural Environment Centre Friendship Park Research Centre Lentiirantie 342B 88900 Kuhmo Finland

Finnish Museum of Natural History Botany Unit University of Helsinki Unioninkatu 44 00140 Helsinki Finland

Finnish Museum of Natural History Zoology Unit University of Helsinki Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 13 00100 Helsinki Finland

Metsähallitus Ounasjoentie 6 96101 Rovaniemi Finland

Metsähallitus Parks and Wildlife Finland PO Box 94 01301 Vantaa Finland

Ruuhikoskenkatu 17 B 5 24240 Salo Finland

Sandvedhagen 8 NO 4318 Sandnes Norway

Station Linné Ölands Skogsby 161 38693 Färjestaden Sweden

Zoological Museum of the University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 15 DK 2100 Copenhagen Denmark

Citace poskytuje Crossref.org

Completing Linnaeus's inventory of the Swedish insect fauna: Only 5,000 species left?

Zobrazit více v PubMed

GENBANK
KT959567, KT960035, KT960048, KT960368, KT960378, KT960746, KU373125, KU374802