Environmental DNA sampling detects between-habitat variation in soil arthropod communities, but is a poor indicator of fine-scale spatial and seasonal variation

Arthropods have been useful and important ecological indicators of environmental change, but morphological identification of key groups is labour-intensive and expertise-demanding. Molecular methods using environmental DNA (eDNA) offer high-throughput capabilities for monitoring arthropod biodiversity, though their effectiveness in detecting biodiversity variation over space and time is unclear. This study employed a standard eDNA metabarcoding approach to monitor subterranean arthropod communities in a homogeneous (pine plantation) and a heterogeneous (regenerating native woody vegetation) forest.