DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3j9kd51r7
title: Data for: Sun, Ogushi, Tseng -Lepidoptera species richness and community composition in urban street trees

description: The triple threats of climate change, habitat loss, and environmental
 pollution have stimulated discussion on how urban areas can be modified to
 both mitigate heat increases and provide habitat for wildlife such as
 insects. The strategy of using trees to reduce temperatures has been
 adopted by numerous cities. However, the majority of street trees planted
 around the world are non-native. Studies conducted in non-urban areas have
 demonstrated in comparison to native plants, non-native plants are less
 likely to support native insect diversity. Here we use a database approach
 to quantify the number of native Lepidoptera species associated with 76 of
 the most common street tree species planted in Vancouver, Canada. We
 tested the prediction that compared to non-native trees, native street
 trees will support a higher diversity and unique community of native
 Lepidoptera. As predicted, native street trees were associated with five
 times as many native Lepidoptera species, and the Lepidoptera communities
 supported by native vs. non-native street trees were distinct. There was
 no difference in native Lepidoptera associations between broadleaf vs.
 coniferous street trees. These results are consistent with studies that
 have used active sampling techniques to investigate insect richness on a
 smaller subset of native and non-native tree species. Collectively, these
 data provide good evidence that the planting native instead of non-native
 trees will help stem the loss of insect diversity in urban areas.
description: Data were compiled from existing databases or published
 literature. No new data were collected.
description: # Sun, Ogushi, Tseng -Lepidoptera species richness and community
 composition in urban street trees - DATA
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3j9kd51r7](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3j9kd51r7) Here we compiled all known Lepidoptera associated with street trees planted in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Tree data were downloaded from the City of Vancouver Open Data Portal. Lepidoptera mostly data came from HOSTS: A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants ([https://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/hosts](https://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/hosts)) and in a few cases came from published literature. Data on whether the Lepidoptera in HOSTS were also found in British Columbia came from the British Columbia Conservation Data Center Ecosystems Explorer portal ([https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/](https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/)). Data regarding whether the tree species is native to British Columbia came from the Biota of North America Program ([http://bonap.org/](http://bonap.org/)). Data regarding whether the Lepidoptera species is native to British Columbia was sourced from the British Columbia Conservation Data Center Ecosystems Explorer. ## Description of the data and file structure File type: csv Column names: Tree.Genus.species - Genus and species of the urban street tree Native.Yes.No - Does the native distribution of the tree include British Columbia (BC)? Broadleaf.Coniferous - Is the tree broadleaf or coniferous? observations - Number of plantings of this species in Vancouver, British Columbia Insect.Family - Family of the insect species Insect.Genus - Genus of the insect species Insect.Genus.species - Genus and species of the insect Insect.Found.in.BC.Yes.No. - Has the insect been found in BC? Native.Introduced.in.BC - n/a: Insect is not found in BC; Introduced: insect is confirmed as present in BC and is introduced; Native: insect is native to BC