Abstract
Although mites are one of the most abundant and diverse groups of arthropods, they are rarely targeted for detailed biodiversity surveys due to taxonomic constraints. We address this gap through DNA barcoding, evaluating acarine diversity at Churchill, Manitoba, a site on the tundra-taiga transition. Barcode analysis of 6279 specimens revealed nearly 900 presumptive species of mites with high species turnover between substrates and between forested and non-forested sites. Accumulation curves have not reached an asymptote for any of the three mite orders investigated, and estimates suggest that more than 1200 species of Acari occur at this locality. The coupling of DNA barcode results with taxonomic assignments revealed that Trombidiformes compose 49% of the fauna, a larger fraction than expected based on prior studies. This investigation demonstrates the efficacy of DNA barcoding in facilitating biodiversity assessments of hyperdiverse taxa.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Biodiversity
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Biological Evolution
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Canada
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Cluster Analysis
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DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic*
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Genetic Variation
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Geography
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Manitoba
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Models, Statistical
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Plants / metabolism
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Sequence Analysis, DNA
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Species Specificity
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Statistics as Topic
Grants and funding
This work was supported by NSERC and by the Government of Canada through Genome Canada and the Ontario Genomics Institute. The authors also thank the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation for its support of BOLD. PDNH gratefully acknowledges support from the Canada Research Chairs Program, while MY thanks the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada for a Northern Training Grant. Finally, the authors thank the Churchill Northern Studies Centre for its provision of a Northern Research Fund award, and outstanding research facilities. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.