engleski

Integrative taxonomy, biogeography and biodiversity conservation of the Plecoptera fauna in Croatia

Plecoptera are used as a biological indicator for pollution and climate change and since their populations are shrinking, it is necessary to give special attention to the conservation importance of their habitats. Project CroBarFauna (DNA barcoding of biodiversity of Croatian fauna, funded by Croatian Science Foundation: IP-06-2016- 988) has contributed to the better understanding of geographic distribution of fauna and has positively impacted the research in systematics, phylogenetics and phylogeography. DNA barcoding of stoneflies (Plecoptera), with a more than 350 analysed specimens, collected at 100 different localities (in 3 biogeographical regions: Mediterranean, mountainous and continental), and comprising 70 species (90% of the species with recent finding in Croatia) revealed several deeply divergent genetic lineages. Given the high genetic diversity accompanied by distinctiveness of the morphological characteristics and ecological features they were identified as new species. The use of integrative taxonomy and rigorous delimitation in describing new species will inevitably yield better biodiversity inventory. The two newly described species have clearly marked morphological differences from related species (in males, females and larvae) and are associated with specific habitats in Dinaric karst. The species belong to the genera Isoperla and Taeniopteryx, characterised by high interspecific genetic diversity. The monophyly of two new species is supported by phylogenetic analysis and for establishing taxonomic relationships, several species delimitation methods were applied. Analysis of more mitochondrial and nuclear markers (in addition to already used cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) barcode region) contributed to a better understanding of the phylogenetic relationship between species.

DNA barcoding ; biodiversity

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