Variations in terrestrial arthropod DNA metabarcoding methods recovers robust beta diversity but variable richness and site indicators.

Terrestrial arthropod fauna have been suggested as a key indicator of ecological integrity in forest systems. Because phenotypic identification is expert-limited, a shift towards DNA metabarcoding could improve scalability and democratize the use of forest floor arthropods for biomonitoring applications. The objective of this study was to establish the level of field sampling and DNA extraction replication needed for arthropod biodiversity assessments from soil.

Modelling vegetation understory cover using LiDAR metrics.

Forest understory vegetation is an important characteristic of the forest. Predicting and mapping understory is a critical need for forest management and conservation planning, but it has proved difficult with available methods to date. LiDAR has the potential to generate remotely sensed forest understory structure data, but this potential has yet to be fully validated.