Consortium for the Barcode of Life Promoting a standardized global system for identifying species 170+ Member organizations, 50+ countries 35+ Member organizations from 25+ developing countries Characterized 500,000 specimens from 50,000 species

Species Identification Matters Basic research on evolution, ecology Endangered/protected species Agricultural pests/beneficial species Disease vectors/pathogens Invasive species (e.g.,in ballast water) Environmental quality indicators Managing for sustainable harvesting Consumer protection, ensuring food quality Fidelity of seedbanks, culture collections

From specimen to sequence to species Database of Standardized Records How Barcoding is Done From specimen to sequence to species ND3 COIII ND2 ND1 Tissue Sampling DNA extraction Copy CO1 gene DNA sequencing Original DNA Data file Database of Standardized Records Voucher Specimen Museum and Herbarium Collections Frozen Tissue Collections DNA Biobanks Public BARCODE data Links to voucher specimens Links to scientific publications

Outreach Activities CBOL’s regional barcode meetings in: Cape Town, South Africa, April 2006, SANBI Scale insects in African agriculture Nairobi, Kenya, October 2006 Commercial fisheries in Rift Valley lakes Brazil, March 2007 Hardwood tree species Commercial fish Endangered mammals, reptiles, amphibians Taiwan, September 2007 Nigeria, October 2008 CBOL efforts to increase global participation in BOLI

Adoption by Regulators Food and Drug Administration Reference barcodes for commercial fish NOAA/NMFS $100K for Gulf of Maine pilot project FISH-BOL workshop with agencies, Taipei, Sept 2007 Federal Aviation Administration – $500K for birds Environmental Protection Agency $250K pilot test, water quality bioassessment FAO International Plant Protection Commission Proposal for Diagnostic Protocols for fruit flies CITES, National Agencies, Conservation NGOs International Steering Committee, identifying pilot projects US government agencies are now testing barcoding and considering its adoption for regulatory and enforcement purposes.