MetaSOL - Evaluation of biodiversity via DNA-extraction from soil and organism samples taken at permanent soil monitoring sites

The collection and assessment of the diversity of soil invertebrates has made significant progress in recent years, for example at the European level in the framework of the EU project ‘EcoFinders’. Above all, the great influence of soil organisms on providing the ecological functions of the soil has been emphasized (for example, the maintenance of soil structure or nutrient cycles). In Germany, knowledge about soil organisms has also increased significantly in the last years. Yet, unlike as in e.g. the Netherlands, a nationwide and standardised monitoring of soil organisms is lacking here. However, with approximately 800 well-characterized permanent soil monitoring sites, a comprehensive infrastructure is available. Nevertheless, only few federal states have carried out soil biology studies on their permanent soil monitoring sites. The main reason for this is probably the elaborate and expensive taxonomical identification of soil invertebrates. In addition, there is an increasing lack of well-trained taxonomists. This problem is targeted within the project ‘MetaSOL’ by detecting important groups of soil organisms at selected locations (primarily permanent soil monitoring sites), and then determining these organisms both by means of ‘classical’ morphological and ‘modern’ genetic methods (metabarcoding). The aim of ‘MetaSOL’ is, thus, to develop an efficient and routinely practicable biomonitoring of German soils.

The German soil biodiversity monitoring programme "Bodendauerbeobachtungsflächen BDF"/"permanent soil monitoring sites" is exploring the potential of employing eDNA techniques for monitoring of soil biodiversity. The eDNA Center at AU is contributing with metabarcoding of Collembola.