Lost in dead wood? Environmental DNA sequencing from dead wood shows little signs of saproxylic beetles

eDNA metabarcoding has become a standard method for assessing wood-inhabiting fungi and bacteria, yet determination of dead-wood-inhabiting beetles still relies on time-consuming collection beetle specimens. We thus tested whether species can be identified by sequencing wood in mesocosm experiment that manipulated assemblages. Dead samples were taken at exit holes DNA was extracted analyzed using two comparative methods: (i) with arthropod primers (421 bp) (ii) short species-specific (120–264 Sanger sequencing. Results showed amplified each the approaches, however, we detected only one non-target saproxylic species. In addition, 80 different OTUs four non-targeted arthropods. For targeted fresh out 20 samples. suggest that, contrast to this approach is not able reliably detect from samples, likely due rapid degradation their target DNA. Adapting such an large-scale analyses requires better knowledge processes affecting quality quantity wood.