Biodiversity of entomofauna in KNP meadow ecosystems – pilot studies using molecular methods

Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology
UniLodz, PolBol, Karkonosze National Park

Karkonosze National Park, Nature and Education Center Pałac Sobieszów (Poland)

4 July 2025

This July, Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, UniLodz, PolBol and Karkonosze National Park organised the “Biodiversity of entomofauna in KNP meadow ecosystems– pilot studies using molecular methods” citizen science event at Karkonosze National Park, Nature and Education Center Pałac Sobieszów (Poland).

A total of 21 attendees, scientists, education center staff and rangers from Karkonosze National Park (KNP) took part in the workshop. The attendees participated in a mixture of theoretical sessions, field sessions, practical work and games.

Goals
The workshop aimed at

  1. presenting new directions in the study of biodiversity in protected areas, using (e)DNA (meta)barcoding;
  2. discussing the perspectives that these methods offer for documenting and monitoring biodiversity and the development of scientific research in Polish national parks and popularisation of the knowledge.

Content

During the first theoretical part, participants got familiar with molecular methods used in biodiversity assessments. During the second part, they were able to practice some of the basic laboratory techniques leading to obtaining the barcoding sequences from fresh material (starting from specimen preparation, amplification of barcoding markers (PCRs), to library preparation and ONT sequencing). On the final step of the workshop, the exchange of teaching experience and ideas, including the presentation of barcoding games devoted to popularisation of the topic, was discussed with the KNP employees. The workshop was associated with a collection of the arthropod fauna with Malaise traps during a week period from two sites in the KNP, and the collected material was passed on PolBol to be analysed in terms of widening the knowledge of the insect diversity in the protected area.

Header:  Participants during the ‘Biodiversity of entomofauna in KNP meadow ecosystems – pilot studies using molecular methods’ in Poland. Images by: BGE / Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, UniLodz, PolBol and Karkonosze National Park

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