. 2018 Jun 13;6:e4980. doi: 10.7717/peerj.4980

Table 1. Outline for the experimental workflow for testing non-destructive DNA extraction.

Component	Questions	Answers
1. Non-destructive DNA extraction of single individuals	Can non-destructive DNA extraction be used to obtain DNA from macroinvertebrates?	Yes, but not from taxa with little sclerotization, such as the Oligochaeta and Hirudinea.
	What is a suitable incubation time for immersion in extraction buffer that does not destroy morphological traits but yields DNA?	An hour works best for most taxa, but for Amphipoda less time would be needed to avoid damage to taxonomic characters.
	Can DNA be extracted from a specimen used for non-destructive DNA extraction?	Yes, for most taxa this is possible. It can be difficult for small taxa like Acarina and some Diptera
2. Comparison of bulk non-destructive extraction to tissue-based DNA extraction for metabarcoding samples of known composition—multiple individuals	How does bulk non-destructive (ND) extraction compares to total homogenization (H) and tissue dissection (D) based extractions when detecting taxa with metabarcoding?	Detection of taxa was similar across all three extraction methods with >84% of taxa detected. However, some more sclerotized taxa (Coleoptera) were often missed by the ND method compared to other methods.
	Can specimens from bulk ND extractions be used for DNA barcoding and taxonomic identification?	Yes, unlike individual ND extraction, specimens subject to bulk ND were largely unaltered and were easily used for DNA barcoding and taxonomic identification
3. Non-destructive DNA extraction of rapid bioassessment samples stored for morphological identification—multiple individuals	Can taxa be detected in field samples when ND extraction is used?	Yes, most taxa were detected using ND extraction protocol except Hydrobiidae snail and some small taxa.
	Do storage conditions (100% ethanol with refrigeration) and sub-optimally (70% ethanol at room temperature) affect taxa detection success when using non-destructive DNA extraction?	There were no obvious difference in the number of taxa detected between samples stored under different conditions.