CECOAL   02625
CENTRO DE ECOLOGIA APLICADA DEL LITORAL
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
DNA barcodes as a tool for fast biodiversity census and establishment of taxonomic workflows: the case of the mostly unknown moths of Argentina
Autor/es:
KOPUCHIAN, CECILIA; TUBARO, PABLO L.; LAVINIA, PABLO D.; LIJTMAER, DARÍO A.; NUÑEZ BUSTOS, EZEQUIEL; HEBERT, PAUL D. N.
Lugar:
Kruger National Park
Reunión:
Congreso; 7th International Barcode of Life Conference; 2017
Institución organizadora:
The African Centre for DNA Barcoding (ACDB) y University of Johannesburg (UJ)
Resumen:
Background: Lepidopterans constitute one of the most diverse groups of insects, with a total estimated diversity of nearly half a million species. Most of this diversity is yet to be described and corresponds to species of moths, which represent around 80% of all known species of lepidopterans. In Argentina, there is no official count of moth species, and taxonomic knowledge of this group is scarce. We used DNA barcodes to explore moth diversity in the southernmost region of the Atlantic Forest, a biodiversity hotspot. Results: We analyzed 1635 specimens representing 601 taxa (already described Linnaean species or morphospecies determined by us based on external morphology) from 27 families of moths collected in Misiones province. Around half of the specimens were assigned to a morphospecies because we were not able to identify them to species level. All the clustering algorithms implemented (ABGD, TCS, RESL) evidenced the existence of cryptic diversity, with MOTU counts (632-658) always exceeding the number of reference taxa (601). More precisely, we found a great correspondence (around 95%) between already described Linnaean species and MOTU boundaries, but not between these and morphospecies (around 70%). This was because the algorithms merged and split many more morphospecies than Linnaean species. This appears to be a consequence of incorrect morphospecies assignment due to unknown intraspecific polymorphism and sexual dimorphism, and the existenceof cryptic species. Significance: This study shows that DNA barcodes performed better than the morphospecies approach when dealing with unknown entities. Furthermore, this tool can be used to rapidly delimit putative species that could serve as the foundation for subsequent, more detailed taxonomic studies. At the same time, DNA barcodes can accelerate biodiversity census and the uncovering ofcryptic diversity in poorly known groups, like the moths of Argentina.