Integrative taxonomy using the plant core DNA barcodes in Sumatra's Burseraceae.

The high diversity and limited floral information in tropical forests often pose a challenge for species identification. However, over the past decade, DNA barcoding has been employed in tropical forests, including Sumatran forests, to enhance floristic surveys. This technique facilitates the discrimination of morphologically similar species and addresses the limitations of conventional species identification, which relies on short-lived reproductive structures.

DNA barcoding of flowering plants in Sumatra, Indonesia.

The rapid conversion of Southeast Asian lowland rainforests into monocultures calls for the development of rapid methods for species identification to support ecological research and sustainable land-use management. Here, we investigated the utilization of DNA barcodes for identifying flowering plants from Sumatra, Indonesia. A total of 1,207 barcodes (441 species) and 2,376 barcodes (750 species) were successfully generated.