Welcome to Moorea, a tiny, isolated island in the middle of the vast Pacific. Moorea is 132 square kilometers (51 square miles) of tropical ecosystems – from jungle and wetlands to beaches and coral reefs – with no major landmasses for thousands of miles. While it may look like the perfect vacation spot, it’s actually the site of intense fieldwork by a team of scientists determined to understand the island’s natural history in more detail than ever possible before--an effort known as the Moorea Biocode Project.
When completed, the researchers’ detailed catalog (or biocode) will represent a first for humankind: an entire tropical ecosystem surveyed and described down to its most fundamental element, the DNA in its organisms’ cells.
Why do taxonomists—scientists who study living things and how they are related—need all those neatly preserved specimens in vials and jars? Find out how specimens collected in Moorea record a permanent snapshot of the island’s natural history and how they might be used in the future.