DNA barcoding in floral and faunal research

As I write this chapter in mid 2012, the context in which floral and faunal research is done is changing rapidly. Demand for biodiversity information, especially to understand global change, is increasing. The technologies that are available for carrying out biodiversity research and for disseminating the results are changing dramatically. The funding processes and organisational cultures of the institutions that have been the traditional homes of such research are evolving. This creates new challenges and opportunities for floral and faunal research. This chapter will focus on the intersection of DNA barcoding with floral and faunal research, the opportunities that DNA barcoding offers for increasing the quality and quantity of such work, and its connectivity with related activities. I will discuss the opportunities for DNA barcoding and then provide an example from my own research. The essay focuses on plants and animals, but will include some reference to other organisms. Because of the rapid evolution of the underlying technologies, and the related social changes, this essay represents a ‘slice of time’, and I expect some of the conclusions will be out of date before it is published. While challenges remain, I believe this is an exciting time of renaissance for taxonomy (Miller, 2007). A DNA barcode is a short gene sequence taken from standardised portions of the genome, used to identify species. Being DNA based, it can be used for specimens