Premium
Application of DNA barcodes in wildlife conservation in Tropical East Asia
Author(s) -
Wilson JohnJames,
Sing KongWah,
Lee PingShin,
Wee Alison K. S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1111/cobi.12787
Subject(s) - dna barcoding , biodiversity , wildlife , east asia , geography , wildlife trade , taxon , ecology , biology , tropics , population , china , demography , archaeology , sociology
Abstract Over the past 50 years, Tropical East Asia has lost more biodiversity than any tropical region. Tropical East Asia is a megadiverse region with an acute taxonomic impediment. DNA barcodes are short standardized DNA sequences used for taxonomic purposes and have the potential to lessen the challenges of biodiversity inventory and assessments in regions where they are most needed. We reviewed DNA barcoding efforts in Tropical East Asia relative to other tropical regions. We suggest DNA barcodes (or metabarcodes from next‐generation sequencers) may be especially useful for characterizing and connecting species‐level biodiversity units in inventories encompassing taxa lacking formal description (particularly arthropods) and in large‐scale, minimal‐impact approaches to vertebrate monitoring and population assessments through secondary sources of DNA (invertebrate derived DNA and environmental DNA). We suggest interest and capacity for DNA barcoding are slowly growing in Tropical East Asia, particularly among the younger generation of researchers who can connect with the barcoding analogy and understand the need for new approaches to the conservation challenges being faced.