Observing the Biodiversity of Insects in Juniper Valley

Observing the Biodiversity of Insects in Juniper Valley Park Using DNA Barcoding Maximo Babadzhanov, Sarah Ong & Ms. Scanlon(Teacher) Abstract Having great biodiversity of species in an environment increases environmental productivity, contributes to climate stability, and the recovery of ecosystems depend on the biodiversity of plants and animals. Insects are the ecosystem’s environmental foundation and affect other organisms as well as the soil and plants. Samples are taken from each insect’s tissue and a barcode portion COl gene is amplified by a PCR. No data has been collected so a conclusion cannot be drawn, but based on observations made through specimen collection, the park may lack the species and genetic diversity that an ecosystems need to thrive. Observing biodiversity through DNA barcoding can potentially help serve larger ecosystems that humans and other organisms depend on. Results Discussion • The 3 samples that were collected are classified as ants and looking at the results of the sequences in figure 1, they are extremely similar. • Because of their similarity in genetic coding, we can infer that there is a lack of biodiversity in the selected location. • These results were expected due to the small and secluded area where the ants were collected from. Figure 1: The barcodes compares the forward and reverse sequences of the 3 ant samples. Methodology • • • Place the ants into its individual lysis solution tubes. Grind the ants well using the pestles. Add paper disc to each tube and let the disc fully submerge for 1 minute Transfer each disc to its individual washer buffer tubes and soak for one minute Air dry the discs and wrap in aluminum foil to send out. Samples(Ants) Barcodes • We collected about 20 samples and only 3 samples were able to be analyzed. Corruption of samples interfered with results. • One experiment that could have helped with our research would have been the type of food that ants like the most. Different ant colonies could have been collected, showing greater diversity. KTC_16 -F KTC_18 -F KTC_20 -F Figure 2: These are the 3 ant samples barcodes. References DNA Learning Center Barcoding 101. (n. d. ). Retrieved from https: //dnabarcoding 101. org Fast Track to Gene Annotation and Genome Analysis- DNA Subway. (n. d. ). Retrieved from https: //dnasubway. cyverse. org Shah, A. (2014, January 19). Why is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares? Retrieved from https: //www. globalissues. org/article/170/why -is-biodiversity-important-who-cares