The effects of parameter choice on defining molecular operational taxonomic units and resulting ecological analyses of metabarcoding data1

Extraction and identification of DNA from an environmental sample has proven noteworthy recently in detecting and monitoring not only common species, but also those that are endangered, invasive, or elusive. Particular attributes of so-called environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis render it a potent tool for elucidating mechanistic insights in ecological and evolutionary processes. Foremost among these is an improved ability to explore ecosystem-level processes, the generation of quantitative indices for analyses of species, community diversity, and dynamics, and novel opportunities through the use of time-serial samples and unprecedented sensitivity for detecting rare or difficult-to-sample taxa. Although technical challenges remain, here we examine the current frontiers of eDNA, outline key aspects requiring improvement, and suggest future developments and innovations for research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Although central to much biological research, the identification of species is often difficult. The use of DNA barcodes, short DNA sequences from a standardized region of the genome, has recently been proposed as a tool to facilitate species identification and discovery. However, the effectiveness of DNA barcoding for identifying specimens in species-rich tropical biotas is unknown. Here we show that cytochrome c oxidase I DNA barcodes effectively discriminate among species in three Lepidoptera families from Area de Conservación Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica. We found that 97.9% of the 521 species recognized by prior taxonomic work possess distinctive cytochrome c oxidase I barcodes and that the few instances of interspecific sequence overlap involve very similar species. We also found two or more barcode clusters within each of 13 supposedly single species. Covariation between these clusters and morphological and/or ecological traits indicates overlooked species complexes. If these results are general, DNA barcoding will significantly aid species identification and discovery in tropical settings.