BIO-GEEC: The German-Ecuadorian Biodiversity Consortium (Stage 1)

Ecuador is a megadiverse country and all ecoregions of the country belong to one of the “hottest” global biodiversity hotspots, meaning that the very high levels of species endemism contrast with extreme levels of habitat destruction. In this project, three German institutions and six Ecuadorian universities (17 scientists in total) are forming the German-Ecuadorian Barcoding Consortium (BIO-GEEC) that has three major objectives. First, we will develop a rapid pipeline for the genetic identification and characterization of organismic groups with public and/or economic relevance. We establish the physical infrastructure, databases, IT protocols and a Web App for a comprehensive barcoding workflow, and transfer the skills and tools available in Germany to our partnering institutions in Ecuador. Second, we will implement and test this infrastructure in four sub-projects that address patterns of biodiversity in taxa and tissue of high relevance: seed plants (tissue, seeds & pollen), pollinating insects, venomous arachnids, and soil microorganisms. Third, we will generate an international network for reciprocal training and exchange.

Team: Prof. Dr. Dietmar Quandt (Nees Institute for biodiversity of plants, Bonn), Dr. Danilo Harms (UHH), Nadine Dupérré (UHH), Prof. Dr. Kai Müller (Universität Würzburg), Dr. Lars Podsiadlowski (ZFMK Bonn), Dr. Verónica Crespo-Pérez (PUCE, Ecuador), Dr. Maria Claudia Segovia Salcedo (ESPE, Ecuador), Dr. Santiago Zarate Baca (UTN Ecuador), Dr. María Cristina Peñuela-Mora (Universidad Regional Amazónica, Ecuador) & Lissette Marianela Marino Robalino (Ecuador)

Funding body: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)