Category Archives: DNA barcoding

Night at the museum

Many population genetic and genomic studies document snapshots of a given population’s genetic diversity. Yet, there are many reasons to document changes over time in population parameters in response to perturbations, such as biological invasions (both in terms of the invader … Continue reading

Posted in DNA barcoding, evolution, genomics, natural history, next generation sequencing, phylogenetics, population genetics, speciation, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A current review of modern and ancient eDNA

There is something romantic about environmental DNA. The ability to discover the presence of almost any species just by detecting the microscopic bread crumbs they leave behind? That is really just a deerstalker and pipette away from Sherlock-level science. But if … Continue reading

Posted in DNA barcoding, genomics, metagenomics, Paleogenomics | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Species and sensibility

Pante et al. (2014) performed a literature review of marine population connectivity in order to illustrate the biased estimates of connectivity which can result from the failure to recognize an evolutionary-relevant unit, such as a species. When exploring the connectivity … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, community ecology, conservation, DNA barcoding, natural history, next generation sequencing, phylogenetics, population genetics, speciation, theory | 6 Comments

"Hurrah! Hurrah!" DNA barcoding and the lost story of Darwin's meadow

Five years ago, I was a co-author on a consortium paper in PNAS that recommended two genes to serve as universal markers for DNA-based identification (DNA barcoding*) of plants. Five years ago, the world celebrated Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday. You … Continue reading

Posted in DNA barcoding, natural history | Tagged , | 1 Comment