Synchronised monitoring of plant and insect diversity: a case study using automated Malaise traps and DNA-based methods.

The occurrence and distribution of insects and their possible associations with plant species are largely unknown in Germany and baseline data to monitor future trends are urgently needed. Using newly-designed automated Malaise trap multi-samplers, the occurrence of insect species and their potential associations with plants was monitored synchronously at two contrasting field sites in Germany: an urban botanical garden and a forest research station. Taxa were identified by metabarcoding of the insects and the plant traces present in the preservative ethanol of the Malaise trap samples.