Imaging x Megabarcoding
Bauer and Stemmler FoundationsCombining imaging and DNA megabarcoding to improve taxonomic resolution, biomass and abundance assessments of aquatic invertebrates
Duration: 2021-2025 Current Phase: End Funding: Stifterverband - “Forschungsgeist! NGS Ökosystemforschung” program of the Bauer Foundation and Stemmler Foundation
Summary:
Understanding biodiversity change requires a comprehensive assessment of not only the identity of species inhabiting an ecosystem but also their biomass and abundance. However, assessing biodiversity on species level with precise biomass information is a time-consuming process and thus rarely applied. While DNA-based approaches like DNA barcoding offer precise species identification, they lack information on specimen size and biomass. In contrast, high-throughput imaging techniques enable rapid measurements of a specimen’s size and morphological features but may have low taxonomic resolution. In this study, we combine DNA megabarcoding, i.e., high-throughput barcoding of single specimens, with semi-automated imaging and deep neural networks to produce accurate taxonomic identifications, abundance, and biomass estimations for insects.