Exploring the Leaf Beetle Fauna (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of an Ecuadorian Mountain Forest Using DNA Barcoding.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Tropical mountain forests are hotspots of biodiversity hosting a huge but little known diversity of insects that is endangered by habitat destruction and climate change. Therefore, rapid assessment approaches of insect diversity are urgently needed to complement slower traditional taxonomic approaches. We empirically compare different DNA-based species delimitation approaches for a rapid biodiversity assessment of hyperdiverse leaf beetle assemblages along an elevational gradient in southern Ecuador and explore their effect on species richness estimates.

Methodology/principal findings

Based on a COI barcode data set of 674 leaf beetle specimens (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of 266 morphospecies from three sample sites in the Podocarpus National Park, we employed sta

SUBMITTER: Thormann B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4744027 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature