Comparison of Morphological and DNA-Based Identification Methods to Assess Earthworm (Clitellata: Lumbricidae) Diversity at 25 Permanent Soil Monitoring Sites in Germany.

ABSTRACT: The most important reason for the lack of a German nationwide and standardised survey of soil organisms is probably the time-consuming and expensive identification of soil invertebrates. The present contribution should contribute to solving this problem. Earthworms and soil were sampled at 25 sites, the animals were identified morphologically and by community DNA (comDNA) and environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding. The comparison of results showed that comDNA detected more species (3.6 on average) than eDNA (3.0) and morphological identification (2.8). In contrast, eDNA, on average, detected a similar number of species as morphological identification. However, some species appear to have a different probability of being detected by eDNA than others, depending on their abundance, behaviour,

SUBMITTER: Jansch S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11955243 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature