diversity Article Building a Plant DNA Barcode Reference Library for a Diverse Tropical Flora: An Example from Queensland, Australia Craig M. Costion 1,*, Andrew J. Lowe 2,†, Maurizio Rossetto 3, Robert M. Kooyman 3,4, Martin F. Breed 2, Andrew Ford 5 and Darren M. Crayn 6,† 1 Botany Department, National Museum of Natural History, MRC 166, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA 2 School of Biological Sciences and the Environment Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia; [email protected] (A.J.L.); [email protected] (M.F.B.) 3 National Herbarium of NSW, Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney 2000, Australia; [email protected] 4 Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, Australia; [email protected] 5 CSIRO Land and Water, Tropical Forest Research Centre, Atherton 4883, Australia; [email protected] 6 Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University, Smithfield 4878, Australia; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-202-633-0920 (ext. 123); Fax: +1-202-786-2563 † These authors contributed equally to this work. Academic Editor: Michael Wink Received: 19 October 2015; Accepted: 24 February 2016; Published: 29 February 2016 Abstract: A foundation for a DNA barcode reference library for the tropical plants of Australia is presented here. A total of 1572 DNA barcode sequences are compiled from 848 tropical Queensland species. The dataset represents 35% of the total flora of Queensland’s Wet Tropics Bioregion, 57% of its tree species and 28% of the shrub species. For approximately half of the sampled species, we investigated the occurrence of infraspecific molecular variation in DNA barcode loci rbcLa, matK, and the trnH-psbA intergenic spacer region across previously recognized biogeographic barriers. We found preliminary support for the notion that DNA barcode reference libraries can be used as a tool for inferring biogeographic patterns at regional scales. It is expected that this dataset will find applications in taxonomic, ecological, and applied conservation research. Keywords: biogeography; wet tropics; rbcLa; matK; trnH-psbA intergenic spacer 1. Introduction Tropical rain forests present unique challenges to identifying plant species. They are characteristically diverse, with an area as small as two hectares potentially containing 300+ vascular woody species of trees, shrubs, and lianas [1]. Many of these species can be extremely rare and/or poorly known [2] and often their most diagnostic characters for identification (e.g., leaves, fruit and flowers) occur high in the canopy out of sight and reach. In many cases fruits and/or flowers are required for accurate identification, which can hinder progress on identification of tropical species in remote localities for years or even decades. This combination of factors renders identification of species in tropical forests to be characteristically slow and dependent on trained experts in taxonomy. Taxonomy, the scientific discipline of identifying and assigning names to species, may be one of the world’s oldest professions, yet today it is undoubtedly an uncommon trade. Although there has been much recent discussion about the discipline of taxonomy being in a state of decline [3], a recent Diversity 2016, 8, 5; doi:10.3390/d8010005 www.mdpi.com/journal/diversity Diversity 2016, 8, 5 2 of 9 paper [4] suggested the opposite is true. Between 1864 and 2010, the number of authors describing new species, articles describing new species and total new species described in the zoological record has increased. This may be attributed to the development of new research methods and approaches or the “publication landscape” changing as science publications have become more interdisciplinary in nature. This trend, plus the rise of the international DNA barcoding initiative, are shifting the ways new speciesDiversity are 2016 discovered, 8, 5 and expanding the traditional horizons of the discipline of taxonomy.2 of 9 The International Barcode of Life Project (iBOL) was established in 2009 and uses standardized portions of a been much recent discussion about the discipline of taxonomy being in a state of decline [3], a recent species genomepaper [4] to suggested identify the species, opposite with is true. the Between aim to aid1864 traditional and 2010, the taxonomy number of andauthors species describing identification. 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