Towards conserving natural diversity: A biotic inventory by observations, specimens, DNA barcoding and...

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Conservation Biology
• Biodiversity Assessment

Background:

• Kenai National Wildlife Refuge requires biodiversity identification for its conservation mandate.
• Effective inventory and monitoring methods are crucial for understanding and protecting natural diversity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test a suite of varied methods for inventory and monitoring of plants, birds, and terrestrial invertebrates.
• To establish baseline data for species distribution and community assemblages within the Slikok Creek watershed.
• To assess the feasibility of these methods for long-term biomonitoring.

Main Methods:

• Utilized observation and specimen-based sampling for plants and lichens.
• Employed bird call surveys on variable circular plots for avian species.
• Applied sweep net sampling and High Throughput Sequencing for terrestrial arthropods.
• Used hot mustard extraction, morphology, and DNA barcoding for earthworm identification.
• Analyzed community structure using clustering and Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling.

Main Results:

• Documented 4,764 occurrences of 984 species and molecular operational taxonomic units.
• Identified 102 arthropod species as potential new records for Alaska.
• Detected three non-native species, two in areas without obvious human disturbance.
• Classified 40 study sites into five distinct community groups based on vegetation and habitat.

Conclusions:

• The tested combination of methods effectively documented species distributions and assemblages for biomonitoring purposes.
• The study provides essential data for Kenai National Wildlife Refuge's conservation goals.
• Further refinement of methods and inclusion of additional taxa can enhance future biodiversity assessments.