Assessing arthropods from floral eDNA
The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding offers a promising alternative to expand biodiversity assessments without the need for taxonomic experts. Here, we utilized eDNA to assess arthropod diversity in common grassland species across different levels of land-use intensity and plant diversity. We sampled eDNA of four different species (white clover, red clover, ribwort plantain, and perennial ryegrass), targeted the mitochondrial 16S and COI regions, and compared the results with a visual census of insect pollinators. Our findings revealed that plant species identity significantly influenced arthropod species richness, while land-use intensity and the plant diversity gradient had a lesser impact on community composition. While the observed pollinator diversity could not be detected in the eDNA analysis, our results retrieved DNA other arthropod species, such as small-bodied Thysanoptera, Coleoptera, and Diptera.