The Global Risks Report 2020 from the World Economic Forum ranked biodiversity loss a top five threat facing humanity. To address this risk, we need to understand how species interact and adapt to changes in their environment. Traditional morphological (a branch of biology that deals with the form of living organisms) methods fall short in this regard.

DNA barcoding, a technology that first emerged 15 years ago, allows us to swiftly and accurately identify species based on the sequence characterization of short segments of their DNA. The International Barcode of Life Consortium, led by the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics at Guelph, unites organizations from 40 nations in the mission to catalog all species and establish a global biosurveillance system by 2050.

The Consortium’s current research program, called BIOSCAN, harnesses new technologies to make DNA barcoding faster and less expensive. One example of this is the adaptation of technologies normally used to sequence whole genomes to gather DNA barcodes from thousands of specimens at a time.

The Canadian component of the BIOSCAN program aims to increase the affordability of DNA-based identification systems while also providing new biodiversity data relevant to Canadians. This includes discovering new species from under-explored regions like the Arctic and the ocean floor off British Columbia. DNA barcoding will also shed light on interactions among species, such as which flowers bees prefer, and to track the shifting distributions of species in response to environmental change at previously impossible scales.

Through community engagement, BIOSCAN–Canada will incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing into an accounting method for “natural capital” that extends beyond conventional economic metrics like GDP. Combining genomics-based biodiversity data with this accounting system allows for effective, timely environmental impact assessments that will inform policymaking for the forestry, mining, and agricultural sectors and for conservation planning. Through these actions, BIOSCAN–Canada will slow biodiversity loss, improve Indigenous consultation, increase sustainability in agriculture and forestry, and strengthen Canada’s leadership in global conservation efforts.