Dr. Sarah Bourlat

Head of metabarcoding section
Deputy ombudsperson for good scientific practice

Metabarcoding

Tel: +49 228 9122-353

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

Mail: s.bourlat [at] leibniz-zfmk.de

Tabs

Profile

Field of work

Metabarcoding, metagenomics, environmental sequencing, molecular ecology, biodiversity & conservation.

Research interests

Monitoring and next generation biodiversity assessments, insect population declines, conservation decisions and ecosystem management.
Spatial and temporal dynamics of species within ecosystems, changes in community structure and taxonomic composition in key habitats, ecosystem modelling.
Food webs, gut contents analyses, plant-animal and host-parasite interactions.
Red-listed and invasive species monitoring, development of methods for highly sensitive species detection in environmental samples.
Repeatability and robustness of metabarcoding pipelines and ananlytical workflows, protocol standardization, benchmarking, mock community experiments.
Large-scale processing and analysis of metabarcoding datasets for automated monitoring stations and malaise traps.
Development of ‘PCR-free’ methods for accurate qualitative as well potentially quantitative biodiversity assessments.

Projects

2022

BGE - Biodiversity Genomics Europe

Unit:

Comparative Vertebrate Genomics, Biobank, Metabarcoding, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera

Project lead:

Astrid Böhne

Funding:

European Union

2021

Hybrid swarm evolution in minnows

In biodiversity research, little is known so far about how hybridizations of a native and a non-native species can lead to the evolution of an invasive hybrid. A group of researchers led by Dr Madlen Stange is now studying this aspect in a project at the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig – Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity (ZFMK). The group is investigating the spread of Phoxinus, an ecologically important schooling fish, in the River Sieg, a 155 km tributary of the River Rhine.

Unit:

Junior Research Group (Minnow), Centre for Taxonomy and Morphology (ztm), Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb), Metabarcoding, Ichthyology, Directorate, Chair Systematic Zoology, Comparative Vertebrate Genomics

Project lead:

Dr. Madlen Stange

Funding:

Leibniz Association

BALIN: Insect conservation at railway stations

The project is located in the field of action of light pollution of the German Federal Government's insect protection action programme.

Unit:

Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Science (zbm), Experimental and Applied Ecology, Metabarcoding, Lepidoptera

Project lead:

Prof. Dr. Christoph Scherber

2020

GBOL III: Dark Taxa

The BMBF-funded GBOL, the German Barcode of Life initiative, has been run successfully over the last eight years. It delivered an operative DNA barcode reference library for German animals, fungi and plants. However, a significant proportion of insect taxa has so far been excluded from GBOL and merely all biodiversity research, because no or only very insufficient expertise and information are available that allow to get a grip on them. They are called “Dark Taxa”.

Unit:

Hymenoptera, Diptera, Chair Systematic Zoology, Mammalogy, Biobank, Biodiversity Informatics, Directorate, Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Science (zbm), Administration, ZFMK International Graduate School, Metabarcoding, Department Arthropoda, Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)

Project lead:

Dr. Ralph S. Peters

Funding:

Federal Ministry of Education and Research

2019

DINA – Diversity of Insects in Nature Protected Areas

In collaboration with the German NABU the ZFMK has been an active partner to initiate a large joint project to understand drivers of insect decline, the DINA project (2019-2022). The goal of the project is to assess and monitor the insect fauna in 21 selected Nature-protected areas using a Malaise trap transect approach. A particular goal of this project is to demonstrate the power of metabarcoding for the rapid and efficient assessment of the insect fauna relying on the GBOL database. Additionally to the insect fauna, landscape parameters including anthropogenic influence will be recorded.

Unit:

Conservation Ecology, Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Science (zbm), Directorate Staff, Administration, ZFMK International Graduate School, Metabarcoding, Herpetology, Experimental and Applied Ecology

Project lead:

Dr. Livia Schäffler

Funding:

Federal Ministry of Education and Research

End biodiversity loss through improved tracking of threatened invertebrates

In today’s biodiversity crisis, there is an urgent need to monitor terrestrial and aquatic species in their natural habitats, especially those that may be endangered, invasive or elusive. Traditional species observation methods, based on acoustic or observational surveys are inefficient, costly and time consuming. On the other hand, DNA is continuously deposited in the environment from natural processes and this environmental DNA (eDNA) allows us to detect species and reconstruct their communities with a high level of sensitivity.

Unit:

Metabarcoding, Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research (zmb)

Project lead:

Dr. Sarah Bourlat

Integrative Analysis of the influence of pesticides and land use on biodiversity in Germany (INPEDIV)

The interdisciplinary joint project INPEDIV is funded for 3 years by the Leibniz Competition (March 2019 – February 2022). The aim of this study is to investigate consequences of organic and conventional farming for biodiversity in protected areas. By use of traditional methods and new technologies, we will examine agricultural land use effects on a broad range of plant and animal taxa across trophic levels at study sites in the Rhineland and in Brandenburg.

Unit:

Directorate, Conservation Ecology, Research Networks, Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Science (zbm), Metabarcoding, Mammalogy, Bat Banding Centre, Myriapoda

Project lead:

Dr. Livia Schäffler

Funding:

Leibniz Association

2011

GBOL- German Barcode of Life

"German Barcode of Life" ( GBOL ) is a project sponsored by the BMBF and includes the creation of inventories for the gentic characterization of the animals, fungi and plants of germany, using DNA-Barcodes.

Project lead:

Prof. Dr. J. Wolfgang Wägele

Funding:

Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Publications

Published in

2024

Zizka, V.M.A., Langen, K., Kirse, A., Scherges, A.M., Bourlat, S.J. (2024) Non-destructive DNA extraction and metabarcoding of arthropod bulk samples: a step-by-step protocol. In: Wägele, J.W., Tschan, G.F. (Eds) Weather stations for biodiversity: a comprehensive approach to an automated and modular monitoring system. Advanced Books, Pensoft, 87-102. https://doi.org/10.3897/ab.e119534

[more]

Kirse, A., Paja, M., Reinhold, L., Bourlat, S.J., Wägele, W.J. (2024) Development of an automated Malaise trap multisampler. In: Wägele JW, Tschan GF (Eds) Weather stations for biodiversity: a comprehensive approach to an automated and modular monitoring system. Advanced Books, Pensoft, 103-117. https://doi.org/10.3897/ab.e119534

[more]

Thomas, L., Kirse, A., Raus, H., Langen, K., Nümann, B., Tschan, G. F., Gemeinholzer, B., Wägele, J. W., Bourlat, S. J. (2024): Synchronised monitoring of plant and insect diversity: a case study using automated Malaise traps and DNA-based methods. - Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e127669.

[more]

Links:

https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e127669

2023

Sickel W., Zizka V., Scherges A., Bourlat S.J., Dieker P. (2023) Abundance estimation with DNA metabarcoding – recent advancements for terrestrial arthropods. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e112290. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.112290

[more]

Hörren T., Bodingbauer S., Bourlat S., Grüneberg C., Kaiser M., Kiel E.F., Schäffler L. , Scherber C., Schwan H., Seitz A., Stenmans W., Sumser H., Zizka V., Sorg M. (2023) Monitoring der Biodiversität flugaktiver Insekten in NRW. Nat NRW 3(2023):17–21

[more]

Bourlat S.J., Koch M., Kirse A., Langen K., Espeland M., Giebner H., Decher J., Ssymank A., Fonseca V.G. (2023): Metabarcoding dietary analysis in the insectivorous bat Nyctalus leisleri and implications for conservation. Biodiversity Data Journal 11: e111146. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.11.e111146

[more]

Bourlat, S. J., Tschan, G. F., Martin, S., Iqram, M., Leidenberger, S. (2023): A red listing gap analysis of molluscs and crustaceans in Northern Europe: What has happened in the last 10 years? - Biological Conservation 286: 110247.

[more]

Links:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110247

Chua P.Y.S., Bourlat S.J., Ferguson C., Korlevic P., Zhao L., Ekrem T., Meier R., Lawniczak M.K.N. Future of DNA-based insect monitoring. Trends Genet. 2023 Mar 10:S0168-9525(23)00038-0. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.02.012. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36907721

[more]

2022

Kirse, A., Bourlat, S. J., Langen, K., Zapke, B., & Zizka, V. M. A. (2022). Comparison of destructive and nondestructive DNA extraction methods for the metabarcoding of arthropod bulk samples. Molecular Ecology Resources, 00, 1– 14.

[more]

Wägele, J. W., Bodesheim, P., Bourlat, S. J., Denzler, J., Diepenbroek, M., Fonseca, V., Frommolt, K.-H., Geiger, M. F., Gemeinholzer, B., Glöckner, F. O., Haucke, T., Kirse, A., Kölpin, A., Kostadinov, I., Kühl, H. S., Kurth, F., Lasseck, M., Liedke, S., Losch, F., Müller, S., Petrovskaya, N., Piotrowski, K., Radig, B., Scherber, C., Schoppmann, L., Schulz, J., Steinhage, V., Tschan, G. F., Vautz, W., Velotto, D., Weigend, M., Wildermann, S. (2022): Towards a multisensor station for automated biodiversity monitoring. - Basic and Applied Ecology 59: 105-138.

[more]

Links:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2022.01.003

2021

Elbrecht V, Bourlat SJ, Hörren T, Lindner A, Mordente A, Noll NW, Schäffler L, Sorg M, Zizka VMA. 2021. Pooling size sorted Malaise trap fractions to maximize taxon recovery with metabarcoding. PeerJ 9:e12177 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12177

[more]

Leidenberger S, Muhammed I, Bourlat SJ (2021) Why are so many Northern European aquatic invertebrates missing in red-listing and how can we improve assessments for those? ARPHA Conference Abstracts 4: e64822. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.4.e64822

[more]

Bruce K, Blackman R, Bourlat SJ, Hellstrom AM, Bakker J, Bista I, Bohmann K, Bouchez A, Brys R, Clark K, Elbrecht V, Fazi S, Fonseca V, Hänfling B, Leese F, Mächler E, Mahon AR, Meissner K, Panksep K, Pawlowski J, Schmidt Yáñez P, Seymour M, Thalinger B, Valentini A, Woodcock P, Traugott M, Vasselon V, Deiner K (2021) A practical guide to DNA-based methods for biodiversity assessment. Advanced Books. https://doi.org/10.3897/ab.e68634

[more]

Bourlat, S.J., Wennhage, H., Wikström, A., Faust, E., Rigby, K., Vigo, M., Kraly, P.M., Selander, E., André, C. Wrasse fishery on the Swedish west coast - towards ecosystem-based management. ICES journal of marine science. 10.1093/icesjms/fsaa249.

[more]

Eriksson, B. K., Yanos, C., Bourlat, S.J., Donadi, S., Fontaine, M. C., Hansen, J. P., Jakubavičiūtė, E., Kiragosyan, K., Maan, M. E., Merilä, J., Austin, Å. N., Olsson, J., Reiss, K., Sundblad, G., Bergström, U., and Eklöf, J. S. 2021. Habitat segregation of plate phenotypes in a rapidly expanding population of three-spined stickleback. Ecosphere 12( 6):e03561. 10.1002/ecs2.3561

[more]

Kirse, A., Bourlat, S. J., Langen, K., & Fonseca, V. G. (2021). Unearthing the potential of soil eDNA metabarcoding–towards best practice advice for invertebrate biodiversity assessment. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 337. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.630560

[more]

Kirse, A., Bourlat, S.J., Langen, K. et al. Metabarcoding Malaise traps and soil eDNA reveals seasonal and local arthropod diversity shifts. Sci Rep 11, 10498 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89950-6

[more]

Lehmann, G.U.C., Bakanov, N., Behnisch, M., Bourlat, S.J., Brühl, C.A., Eichler, L., Fickel, T., Geiger, M.F., Gemeinholzer, B., Hörren, T., Köthe, S., Lux, A., Meinel, G., Mühlethaler, R., Poglitsch, H., Schäffler, L., Schlechtriemen, U., Schneider, F.D., Schulte, R., Sorg, M., Sprenger, M., Swenson, S.J., Terlau, W., Turck, A. & Zizka, V.M.A. Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas (DINA): an interdisciplinary German research project. Biodivers. Conserv. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-021-02209-4

[more]

Links:

Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas (DINA): an interdisciplinary German research project

2020

Leese, F., Beermann, A.J., Zizka, V. unter Mitarbeit von Astrin, J., Bálint, M., Bourlat, S., Buchner, D., Elbrecht, V., Hörren, T., Krehenwinkel, H., Monaghan, M., Morinière, J., Pauls, S.U., Schäffler, L., Weigand, A. 2020 Potenzial genetischer Methoden für die Erfassung und das Monitoring von Insekten. Ausarbeitung im Rahmen des F+E-Vorhabens „Konzeptentwicklung zum bundesweiten Insektenmonitoring"

[more]

Elbrecht, V., Bourlat, S.J., Lindner, A., Mordente, A., Noll, N., Sorg, M., Zizka, V. (2020) Pooling size sorted malaise trap fractions to maximise taxon recovery with metabarcoding. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.09.118950v1

[more]

Pages

2011-2018 Researcher, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

2016 Docent (Associate professor) in Biology with focus on Marine Biodiversity

2008-2010 Researcher, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden

2006-2007 Postdoctoral researcher, University College London, UK

2003-2005 Postdoctoral researcher, University of Cambridge, UK

2002 PhD in Genetics, University of Vienna, Austria

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Dr. Sarah Bourlat

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