DNA metabarcoding is an emerging approach for monitoring biodiversity, but uncertainties remain about its capacity to detect subtle differences in invertebrate community composition comparable to those achievable based on conventional morphological identification. In this study, DNA metabarcoding and morphology‐based approaches were compared as tools for investigating whether logging history impacted beetle communities in Tasmanian wet eucalypt forests. We compared 12 unlogged mature forest sites with 12 neighboring regeneration sites that had been logged approximately 55 years previously. The number of species identified based on morphology (173) was close to the number of zero‐radius operational taxonomic units (ZOTUs) identified by DNA metabarcoding of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI, 176) and 16S ribosomal RNA (16S, 156) markers. Subtle but significant differences in beetle species composition between regeneration and unlogged mature forests were captured by both morphology‐based and COI DNA metabarcoding approaches, but not by 16S DNA metabarcoding. Our results support the suitability of mitochondrial COI for studying invertebrate biodiversity. A slight loss of signal compared to the morphology‐based approach may be resolved by developing more comprehensive DNA reference databases. While confirming forest recovery of 48–58 years did not fully restore mature forest beetle communities, we suggest that DNA metabarcoding can be used for monitoring biodiversity and probing subtle differences in community composition.

中文翻译：

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DNA元条形码捕获扰动后森林甲虫群落中的细微差异

DNA元条形码技术是一种监测生物多样性的新兴方法，但是其检测无脊椎动物群落组成的细微差异的能力仍存在不确定性，这与基于常规形态学鉴定所能实现的差异相当。在这项研究中，将DNA元条形码和基于形态学的方法作为调查伐木历史是否影响塔斯马尼亚湿式桉树林的甲虫群落的工具进行了比较。我们将12个未采伐的成熟森林站点与大约55年前已被采伐的12个相邻的再生站点进行了比较。根据形态学鉴定的物种数量（173）接近于通过细胞色素c的DNA元条形码鉴定的零半径操作分类单位（ZOTU）的数量氧化酶亚基I（COI，176）和16S核糖体RNA（16S，156）标记。基于形态学和COI DNA元条形码技术都可以捕获再生和未采伐的成熟森林之间甲虫物种组成的细微但显着的差异，但不能通过16S DNA元条形码技术来捕获。我们的结果支持线粒体COI在研究无脊椎动物生物多样性方面的适用性。与基于形态学的方法相比，轻微的信号损失可以通过开发更全面的DNA参考数据库来解决。虽然确认48-58年的森林恢复并未完全恢复成熟的甲虫社区，但我们建议DNA元条形码可用于监测生物多样性和探查社区组成的细微差异。