Abstract
An accurate identification of species and communities is a prerequisite for analysing and recording biodiversity and community shifts. In the context of marine biodiversity conservation and management, this review outlines past, present and forward-looking perspectives on identifying and recording planktonic diversity by illustrating the transition from traditional species identification based on morphological diagnostic characters to full molecular genetic identification of marine assemblages. In this process, the article presents the methodological advancements by discussing progress and critical aspects of the crossover from traditional to novel and future molecular genetic identifications and it outlines the advantages of integrative approaches using the strengths of both morphological and molecular techniques to identify species and assemblages. We demonstrate this process of identifying and recording marine biodiversity on pelagic copepods as model taxon. Copepods are known for their high taxonomic and ecological diversity and comprise a huge variety of behaviours, forms and life histories, making them a highly interesting and well-studied group in terms of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, their short life cycles and rapid responses to changing environments make them good indicators and core research components for ecosystem health and status in the light of environmental change.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Integrative research perspectives on marine conservation’.
Highlights
Biodiversity describes the variations that are found within communities, which includes variability within species, between species and between ecosystems and, as such, it is key to ecosystem functioning
In the context of marine biodiversity conservation and management, this review outlines past, present and forward-looking perspectives on identifying and recording planktonic diversity by illustrating the transition from traditional species identification based on morphological diagnostic characters to full molecular genetic identification of marine assemblages
The article presents the methodological advancements by discussing progress and critical aspects of the crossover from traditional to novel and future molecular genetic identifications and it outlines the advantages of integrative approaches using the strengths of both morphological and molecular techniques to identify species and assemblages
Summary
Biodiversity describes the variations that are found within communities, which includes variability within species, between species and between ecosystems and, as such, it is key to ecosystem functioning. Recent efforts have produced an enormous wealth of novel data from highthroughput metagenomic sampling on plankton distribution and diversity [6,7,8,9], and revealed that a large fraction of the recorded plankton diversity belongs to still unknown taxonomic groups [9] These results illustrate that we still have too little knowledge and understanding of the diversity of plankton and their relationship to abiotic and biotic factors, especially in the light of environmental change. Copepods display a huge variety of behaviours, forms and life histories They often dominate zooplankton communities, revealed by both morphological and molecular assessments, and constitute an important part in marine food webs. The identification of copepod (and zooplankton) community composition and structure (i.e. identification of dominant species and diversity) is important to understand and to monitor changes in marine systems [23,24,25,26]
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