For over four decades, scientists have been collecting genetic DNA sequence data for thousands of the world’s species. In the biodiversity and eco-evolutionary sciences, these data are generated to describe new species, define their evolutionary relationships, determine the levels of dispersal among populations, and assess levels of genetic diversity across a species range. The rate at which we accrue these DNA sequences has increased over time as the use of genetic data has diversified, and the sequencing technologies used to decode the DNA sequences of organisms have become faster, cheaper, and much higher through-put. As this trend continues into the future, it is anticipated that we may soon have more DNA sequences in a digital form than we have existing in the natural world.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7094054
