DNA metabarcoding data of arthropods from lower mountain range regions in southwest Germany

The dataset comprises presence data on arthropods, but also on the groups 'Annelida', 'Ascomycota', 'Basidiomycota', 'Mollusca', 'Mucoromycota', 'Nematoda' and 'Proteobacteria'. For each detection of an Observational Taxonomic Unit (OTU), the number of reads is also given, as well as further information about the species assigned. The species information was derived from a comparison of the detected DNA sequences with the BOLD database and the database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Further, the Ribosomal Database Project (RDP) classifier was used to identify species. A consensus taxonomy compiles the species information dervied from the different databases and ranks the results according to their validity by using labels from A to C (Information on A, B, and C given at the description of the variables). The DNA metabarcoding process is decribed in detail in Uhler et al (2022): A comparison of different Malaise trap types (DOI:10.1111/icad.12604). Since the samples were devided into large and small subsamples to improve the metabarcoding results, the data is given for each of the subsamples separately. The samples that went through DNA metabarcoding were derived from a Malaise trap experiment, for which five different types of Malaise traps were placed on a meadow and a forest clearing site each in three regions of southwest Germany (Nationalpark Hunsrück-Hochwald, Rhine-Main-Observatory, Steigerwald). The sites in the Hunsrück and the Rhine-Main-Observatory are part of the Long-term Ecological Research Network Germany (LTER-D).