
An archived mosquito specimen from the University of Arizona Insect Collection, one of hundreds of mosquito species found at NEON sites. Photo by Cara Gibson

The Big Sands Tiger Beetle, Cicindela formosa, one of the thousands of ground beetle species found at NEON sites. Photo by Kali Blevins.
How do you standardize species identifications across dozens of sites and over decades of monitoring? We address this issue in a recent publication that provides both preliminary data and an introduction to NEON’s approach to monitoring ground beetle and mosquito biodiversity, two groups NEON is targeting. NEON is part of a growing effort to monitor biodiversity globally (GEOBON, SAEON, TERN, EBONE) and is demonstrating how DNA sequences, as part of an integrative taxonomic strategy, can be used in a real-world biodiversity monitoring program.

(background) Organizing field collected specimens for DNA barcoding. Photo by Kali Blevins. (inset) The end of a day of sub-sampling legs for DNA barcoding Photo by Cara Gibson.
DNA barcodes are unique, species-specific DNA sequences that come from the “powerhouses” that make energy inside most every animal, plant and fungal cell – making them easy to obtain and universal to a lot of Earth’s biodiversity. DNA barcodes will help NEON to standardize species identifications across time and space, but tying those molecules to a voucher specimen that has been reliably identified by an expert morphological taxonomist is crucial to making sure we are gathering the highest quality data possible.

Patrick Travers and Kali Blevins looking for specimens to barcode at the Smithsonian. Photo by Cara Gibson.
Because it is publicly available, NEON’s reference library will also serve a variety of other possible uses for many other people. Ecologists will be able to gain insights into population changes over time and in response to differing land use types. Public health surveyors will be able to skip the time-intensive and costly steps of rearing juvenile mosquitoes through to adulthood for species IDs. Citizen scientists will be able to download region-specific species lists to learn about their local fauna and the critical ecosystem services they perform. All of this from uniting molecules with morphology!
*Many similar efforts are generating DNA barcodes for a variety of life forms to answer questions ranging from conservation issues to simply understanding what exists on our planet. Here are some examples that have also been published in PLoS ONE recently:
- The Barcode of Life Data Portal: Bridging the Biodiversity Informatics Divide for DNA Barcoding
- Joining Inventory by Parataxonomists with DNA Barcoding of a Large Complex Tropical Conserved Wildland in Northwestern Costa Rica
- Barcoding a Quantified Food Web: Crypsis, Concepts, Ecology and Hypotheses
- Pyrosequencing for Mini-Barcoding of Fresh and Old Museum Specimens
- A DNA Barcode Library for North American Ephemeroptera: Progress and Prospects
- Wolbachia and DNA Barcoding Insects: Patterns, Potential, and Problems