DNA barcoding reveals diversity of Hymenoptera and the dominance of parasitoids in a sub-arctic environment

BMC Ecology

Research Article

M Alex Smith¹  Sarah J Adamowicz¹  Julie K Stahlhut¹  Paul DN Hebert¹  Mark T Merilo¹  José Fernández-Triana²  Henri Goulet³  John T Huber⁴  Matthias Buck⁵  Cory S Sheffield⁶  Thomas Woodcock⁷ 

[1] Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada;Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada;Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada;Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada;Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada;Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada;Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton, AB, Canada;Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina, SK, Canada;School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada;

关键词: Barcoding biotas;    Biodiversity;    DNA barcoding;    Hymenoptera;    Sub-Arctic;    Parasitoids;    Canada;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6785-13-2

 received in 2012-09-24, accepted in 2012-12-21,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundInsect diversity typically declines with increasing latitude, but previous studies have shown conflicting latitude-richness gradients for some hymenopteran parasitoids. However, historical estimates of insect diversity and species richness can be difficult to confirm or compare, because they may be based upon dissimilar methods. As a proxy for species identification, we used DNA barcoding to identify molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) for 7870 Hymenoptera specimens collected near Churchill, Manitoba, from 2004 through 2010.ResultsWe resolved 1630 MOTUs for this collection, of which 75% (1228) were ichneumonoids (Ichneumonidae + Braconidae) and 91% (1484) were parasitoids. We estimate the total number of Hymenoptera MOTUs in this region at 2624-2840.ConclusionsThe diversity of parasitoids in this sub-Arctic environment implies a high diversity of potential host species throughout the same range. We discuss these results in the contexts of resolving interspecific interactions that may include cryptic species, and developing reproducible methods to estimate and compare species richness across sites and between surveys, especially when morphological specialists are not available to identify every specimen.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Stahlhut et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013