Global climate change (GCC) significantly affects distributional patterns of organisms 1 , and considerable impacts on biodiversity are predicted for the next decades. Inferred effects include large-scale range shifts towards higher altitudes and latitudes 2 , facilitation of biological invasions 3 and species extinctions 1,3 . Alterations of biotic patterns caused by GCC have usually been predicted on the scale of taxonomically recognized morphospecies 1 . However, the effects of climate change at the most fundamental level of biodiversityintraspecific genetic diversity-remain elusive 4 . Here we show that the use of morphospecies-based assessments of GCC effects will result in underestimations of the true scale of biodiversity loss. Species distribution modelling and assessments of mitochondrial DNA variability in nine montane aquatic insect species in Europe indicate that future range contractions will be accompanied by severe losses of cryptic evolutionary lineages and genetic diversity within these lineages. These losses greatly exceed those at the scale of morphospecies. We also document that the extent of range reduction may be a useful proxy when predicting losses of genetic diversity. Our results demonstrate that intraspecific patterns of genetic diversity should be considered when estimating the effects of climate change on biodiversity.Numerous studies document the effects of GCC on biodiversity both at the ecosystem and species level, but not at the level of intraspecific genetic diversity. This is surprising, given that the use of molecular techniques in biodiversity research increasingly results in the recognition of high levels of cryptic biodiversity below the morphospecies level 5 . Efforts to delimit evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) for biodiversity-related fields acknowledge the fact that the morphospecies concept seems increasingly insufficient for holistic biodiversity estimates 6 . However, a concise framework for estimating the effects of GCC on cryptic biodiversity and spatial genetic differentiation is still lacking. Here we introduce a widely applicable approach based on the use of range-wide phylogeographic mitochondrial DNA data and species distribution modelling (SDM), which allows estimation of climate-related future changes of genetic and cryptic biodiversity. We reason that species with strong genetic population structure will experience massive losses of cryptic diversity and ESUs under GCC, and that examining GCC effects solely at the level of morphospecies will underestimate the extent of climate-driven biodiversity loss.To test our hypotheses, we used range-wide mitochondrial sequence data (mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I)

Unequivocal identification of fly specimens is an essential requirement in forensic entomology. However, not all species can be determined at every developmental stage, which is illustrated by the flesh flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae), important members of the necrophagous insect fauna. Up to now no suitable key for the identification of the immature stages of this family of flies exists. DNA analysis of selected mitochondrial genes was applied to solve this problem. Sequence data of selected regions of the CO I and ND 5 genes of the most important European flesh fly taxa associated with cadavers are presented, which can act as reference standards for species determination.

We compared the results of different approaches for delimiting species based on single‐locus DNA sequences with those of methods using binary multilocus data. As case study, we examined the radiation of the land snail genus Xerocrassa on Crete. Many of the methods based on mitochondrial sequences resulted in heavy under‐ or overestimations of the species number. The methods using AFLP data produced classifications with an on average higher concordance with the morphological classification than the methods based on mitochondrial sequences. However, the percentage of correct species classifications is low even with binary multilocus data. Gaussian clustering produced the classifications with the highest concordance with the morphological classification of all approaches applied in this study, both with single‐locus sequences and with binary multilocus data. There are two general problems that hamper species delimitation, namely rarity and the hierarchical structure of biodiversity. Methods for species delimitation using genetic data search for clusters of individuals, but do not implement criteria that are sufficient to distinguish clusters representing species from other clusters. The success of morphological species delimitation results from the potential to focus on characters that are directly involved in the speciation process, whereas molecular studies usually rely on markers that are not directly involved in speciation. © The Willi Hennig Society 2011.

An animals' body is densely populated with bacteria. Although a large number of investigations on physiological microbial colonisation have emerged in recent years, our understanding of the composition, ecology and function of the microbiota remains incomplete. Here, we investigated whether songbirds have an individual-specific skin microbiome that is similar across different body regions. We collected skin microbe samples from three different bird species (Taeniopygia gutatta, Lonchura striata domestica and Stagonopleura gutatta) at two body locations (neck region, preen gland area). To characterise the skin microbes and compare the bacterial composition, we used high-throughput 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. This method proved suitable for identifying the skin microbiome of birds, even though the bacterial load on the skin appeared to be relatively low. We found that across all species, the two evaluated skin areas of each individual harboured very similar microbial communities, indicative of an individual-specific skin microbiome. Despite experiencing the same environmental conditions and consuming the same diet, significant differences in the skin microbe composition were identified among the three species. The bird species differed both quantitatively and qualitatively regarding the observed bacterial taxa. Although each species harboured its own unique set of skin microbes, we identified a core skin microbiome among the studied species. As microbes are known to influence the host's body odour, our findings of an individual-specific skin microbiome might suggest that the skin microbiome in birds is involved in the odour production and could encode information on the host's genotype.