2.1.2. Regional Biodiversity Assessments

DNA barcode studies both benefit from and serve a key role in support of local and regional biodiversity assessments, including floristics. In many biodiverse regions, where species diversity is poorly known, collections-based exploration and inventory studies are vital for alpha taxonomy and conservation. Modern approaches to field expeditions employ a variety of strategies to collect and document species, which often include the collection of various data to inform biodiversity studies. These data incorporate traditional natural history specimens, photographs, ecological notes, and, more recently, vouchers intended for genetic and/or genomics research [83]. The collection of genetic vouchers and sequencing of DNA barcodes in standard species inventories help to build the global barcode reference database [84] as mentioned above, and often result in surprising discoveries of cryptic diversity (e.g., [85–87]).
