CODABEILLES: a reliable reference library of COI DNA barcodes for French wild bees monitoring (Apoidea: Anthophila)

In the Anthropocene, the decline of insect pollinators poses a significant threat to ecosystem services, particularly to wild bee populations essential for plant biodiversity and agricultural productivity. France, with 983 species, hosts one of the most diverse bee faunas in Europe, yet these species face growing pressures from habitat loss, climate change, and intensive agriculture. Addressing this crisis requires robust taxonomic frameworks and efficient species identification methods to support long-term monitoring initiatives such as the European Pollinator Monitoring Scheme, EU-PoMS. DNA barcoding, utilizing the COI-5P gene, has proven effective for species delineation and biodiversity monitoring, particularly in detecting cryptic diversity among genera with large numbers of species such as Andrena, Nomada or Lasioglossum. However, significant gaps remain in reference libraries, particularly for the species from the Mediterranean Basin. To bridge this gap, the CODABEILLES initiative was launched in 2021 to enhance barcode data for the French bee fauna. Initially, only 25% of species had barcodes from French voucher specimens, increasing to 62% when considering voucher specimens from other countries. By 2025, thanks to collaboration with sixteen specialists and institutions, CODABEILLES contributed 1477 reference barcodes, covering approximately 560 species and raising barcode coverage to 82%. When integrating data published under other initiatives over the same period the coverage reaches 94% of the French bee fauna. This dataset significantly enhances species identification accuracy and supports large-scale pollinator monitoring through metabarcoding and environmental DNA approaches. Despite the success of COI-5P barcoding, taxonomic inconsistencies persist, necessitating further integrative research. This study underscores the need for continued collaboration among taxonomists, molecular biologists, and conservationists to refine species classifications and ensure comprehensive reference databases. The improved barcode coverage provided by CODABEILLES paves the way for more accurate DNA-based monitoring of wild bee populations and their ecological interactions, crucial for guiding conservation strategies in the face of ongoing environmental change.

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Journal
BMC Ecology and Evolution
Published
2025-11-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02429-0
Primary Topic
Plant and animal studies
Type
article
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article

CODABEILLES: a reliable reference library of COI DNA barcodes for French wild bees monitoring (Apoidea: Anthophila)

Rodolphe Rougerie, Mélodie Ollivier, Emmanuelle Artige, Matthieu Aubert et al.
BMC Ecology and Evolution
Plant and animal studies
article

CODABEILLES: a reliable reference library of COI DNA barcodes for French wild bees monitoring (Apoidea: Anthophila)

Rodolphe Rougerie, Mélodie Ollivier, Emmanuelle Artige, Matthieu Aubert, Laurent Guilbaud, Anne‐Laure Jacquemart, Adeline Dumet, Bernard Kaufmann, Rémi Rudelle, Bertrand Schatz, Benoît Geslin, Éric Dufrêne, Vincent Leclercq, A. Perrard, Émilie Andrieu, David Genoud, Gabriel Nève, Jean‐Claude Streito, Alexandre Cornuel-Willermoz, Philippe Christophe, Annie Ouin, Lara Konecny, Magalie Pichon, Anaïs Marquisseau, Danny Lebreton, Héloïse Vallod, Yvan Brugerolles, Raphaël Da Silva Ropio
article en

Abstract

In the Anthropocene, the decline of insect pollinators poses a significant threat to ecosystem services, particularly to wild bee populations essential for plant biodiversity and agricultural productivity. France, with 983 species, hosts one of the most diverse bee faunas in Europe, yet these species face growing pressures from habitat loss, climate change, and intensive agriculture. Addressing this crisis requires robust taxonomic frameworks and efficient species identification methods to support long-term monitoring initiatives such as the European Pollinator Monitoring Scheme, EU-PoMS. DNA barcoding, utilizing the COI-5P gene, has proven effective for species delineation and biodiversity monitoring, particularly in detecting cryptic diversity among genera with large numbers of species such as Andrena, Nomada or Lasioglossum. However, significant gaps remain in reference libraries, particularly for the species from the Mediterranean Basin. To bridge this gap, the CODABEILLES initiative was launched in 2021 to enhance barcode data for the French bee fauna. Initially, only 25% of species had barcodes from French voucher specimens, increasing to 62% when considering voucher specimens from other countries. By 2025, thanks to collaboration with sixteen specialists and institutions, CODABEILLES contributed 1477 reference barcodes, covering approximately 560 species and raising barcode coverage to 82%. When integrating data published under other initiatives over the same period the coverage reaches 94% of the French bee fauna. This dataset significantly enhances species identification accuracy and supports large-scale pollinator monitoring through metabarcoding and environmental DNA approaches. Despite the success of COI-5P barcoding, taxonomic inconsistencies persist, necessitating further integrative research. This study underscores the need for continued collaboration among taxonomists, molecular biologists, and conservationists to refine species classifications and ensure comprehensive reference databases. The improved barcode coverage provided by CODABEILLES paves the way for more accurate DNA-based monitoring of wild bee populations and their ecological interactions, crucial for guiding conservation strategies in the face of ongoing environmental change.

BMC Ecology and EvolutionVol. 25(1)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR), Université Paris-Est Créteil (FR), Université Paris Cité (FR), Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (FR), Aix-Marseille Université (FR), Agropolis International (FR), Sorbonne Université (FR), Ecosystèmes, Biodiversité, Evolution (FR), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive (FR), Sorbonne Paris Cité (FR), Ecologie, Société, Evolution (FR), Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (FR), Ecologie & Evolution (FR), Société Géologique de France (FR), École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse (FR), CRV (Netherlands) (NL), Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (FR), Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie Marine et Continentale (FR), Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations (FR), Génétique Physiologie et Systèmes d'Elevage (FR), Hôpital Paul-Brousse (FR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Dynamiques et écologie des paysages agriforestiers (FR), Université de Rennes (FR)
Openalex Percentile: Top 74%
Plant and animal studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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