DNA barcoding and the documentation of alien species establishment on sub-Antarctic Marion Island

Invasive alien species constitute a substantial conservation challenge in the terrestrial sub-Antarctic. Management plans, for many of the islands in the region, call for the prevention, early detection, and management of such alien species. However, such management may be confounded by difficulties...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Biology
Main Authors: Chown S.L., Sinclair B.J., Van Vuuren B.J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2008
Subjects:
biological invasion
detection method
DNA
identification method
introduced species
invasive species
island
mitochondrial DNA
moth
subantarctic region
Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean islands
Marion Island
Prince Edward Islands
Agrotis ipsilon
Hexapoda
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Antarctic
Indian
Antarc*
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/11628
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0402-z
Description
Summary:Invasive alien species constitute a substantial conservation challenge in the terrestrial sub-Antarctic. Management plans, for many of the islands in the region, call for the prevention, early detection, and management of such alien species. However, such management may be confounded by difficulties of identification of immatures, especially of holometabolous insects. Here we show how a DNA barcoding approach has helped to overcome such a problem associated with the likely establishment of an alien moth species on Marion Island. The discovery of unidentifiable immatures of a noctuid moth species, 5 km from the research station, suggested that a new moth species had colonized the island. Efforts to identify the larvae by conventional means or by rearing to the adult stage failed. However, sequencing of 617 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene, and comparison of the sequence data with sequences on GENBANK and the barcoding of life database enabled us to identify the species as Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel), a species of which adults had previously been found regularly at the research station. Discovery of immatures of this species, some distance from the research station, suggests that a population may have established. It is recommended that steps to be taken to eradicate the species from Marion Island. © 2008 Springer-Verlag. Article

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