Capturing mite diversity in a model tropical ecosystem using DNA barcoding and traditional systematics

This ambitious project aims at cataloguing the diversity of mites in a model tropical ecosystem in French Polynesia. We are constructing a database with barcoding markers and physical identifiers for every collected species of mite from the 51-square mile island of Moorea, located 15 km northwest of Tahiti. Each mite collection is accompanied by genetic and ecological data on other groups of organisms that will enhance our understanding of mite food webs and ecological relationships. The database will be publicly available to ecologists and evolutionary biologists around the world. This effort is part of the BIOCODE project, the first attempt to catalogue and barcode all living organisms in a model tropical ecosystem.