The assembly of DNA sequence reference libraries, or DNA Barcodes, has greatly enhanced the power of ecologists to investigate ecological phenomena. The purpose of this session is to demonstrate the emerging importance and benefit of applying DNA sequence data from DNA barcodes to much better address questions in ecology and evolution. There are two broad scales were DNA data is having a significant impact in ecological research, the first of these may be termed Ecological Forensics, and uses the ability of DNA sequence data to correctly identify species involved in complex ecological interactions when the identity of the interacting species might otherwise be unknown. Several recent published studies have begun to demonstrate the application of this into investigations of plant root architecture, trophic interactions among species, as well as diagnosis of animal herbivore diets, all of which have significant implications for understanding how species interact with each other. To that end, these data will greatly enhance studies that emphasize collaboration among scientific disciplines (e.g. botanists and entomologists via plant herbivore interactions; mycologists and botanists studying the evolution of pathogenicity or AMF interactions; as well as trophic interactions where diagnosis of host and prey or host and parasite behavior are illuminated). The other area of important development is in the construction of community phylogenies that are based in part or entirely on DNA barcode sequences. These community phylogenies have demonstrated improved resolution in describing the evolutionary relationships among species, particularly those from poorly studied tropical environments, and have resulted in greater power to test the phylogenetic structure of trait evolution, evaluate models of community assembly and quantify response to environmental change (including global climate change). This session would highlight this emerging integration between the global initiative to assemble DNA barcode libraries, and the application of this data to investigate ecological hypotheses.