Major CBOL Projects

CBOL participants invite you to learn more about their projects and to contact them with questions, comments, or a desire to join them in the following major CBOL projects!

  • ABBI, the All Birds Barcoding Initiative, is a five-year campaign to obtain at least five barcode records representing each of the world's 10,000 bird species. ABBI is led by an international Steering Committee and consists of Regional Working Groups.
  • FISH-BOL, the Fish Barcode of Life campaign, is collecting barcodes from at least five specimens representing the 30,000+ species of marine, freshwater and estuarine fish of the world. Like ABBI, FISH-BOL has a central Steering Committee and Regional Working Groups.
  • TBI, the Tephritid Barcode Initiative is a two-year "demonstration project" that will create an operational system for identifying fruit flies around the world. TBI will barcode at least five representatives of all tephritid fruit flies that are either (1) agricultural pests, (2) beneficial species used for biological control of other pests, (3) closely related to pests or beneficial species; and (4) representative species from other families of tephritids. TBI plans to obtain barcodes from approximately 2000 species of the estimated 4500 known tephritid species.
  • MBI, the Mosquito Barcode Initiative is another "demonstration project" aimed at producing a global operational system for identifying mosquitoes in two years. MBI plans to barcode at least five specimens from 80% of the 3200 known mosquito species. Disease-bearing species and their closest relatives will be the highest priority.
  • CBOL's International Network for Barcoding Invasive and Pest Species (INBIPS) is made up of researchers and representatives of government agencies. They're exchanging information and developing plans for global barcoding projects.

In addition, individuals and research groups have begun to organize smaller barcoding projects. These are posted as Barcoding Case Studies and you're invited to browse and join!