Introduction to DNA Data

Overview

Questions

• Where do DNA data come from?
• What do the look like?

Objectives

Biodiversity observation ain’t easy

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“Observing biodiversity ain’t easy—too many species out there! By the time you figure out what you’re lookin’ at, it’s already somethin’ else!”

- Yogi Berra never said this

Why?

• Time and Labor intensive
• Expensive
• Requires taxonomic expertise
• Dominated by conspicuous or commercial species
• Conditions dependent

There are many ways to observe biodiversity.

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Strengths of DNA as biodiversity evidence

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DNA helps, but it’s not a silver bullet

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DNA at GBIF: how it is accessed and used

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Spectrum of Use Cases

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Spectrum of Approaches

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Introduction to NCBI and MixS standard

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It’s ok to not have it all figured out yet

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