DOI: 10.5061/dryad.f1vhhmh04
title: Data from: Landscape diversity and local temperature, but not climate, affect arthropod predation among habitat types

description: Arthropod predators are relevant for top-down regulation of insect
 herbivores. Biotic and abiotic factors influence predator communities and
 their activity with consequences for the strength of top-down regulation
 (‘arthropod predation’). Anthropogenic climate and land-use change urges a
 deeper understanding of the combined effects of potential drivers on
 arthropod predation. This study obtained arthropod predation rates on 113
 plots of open herbaceous vegetation adjacent to different habitat types
 (forest, grassland, arable field, settlement) along climate and land-use
 gradients in Bavaria, Germany, using a standardized method of artificial
 caterpillars at ground level. Predation rates were analysed with regard to
 habitat characteristics (habitat type, plant species richness, local mean
 temperature and mean relative humidity during artificial caterpillar
 exposure), landscape diversity (0.5–3.0-km, six scales), climate
 (multi-annual mean temperature, ‘MAT’) and interactive effects of habitat
 type with other drivers. Arthropod predation rates did not substantially
 differ between the studied habitat types, related to plant species
 richness and across the Bavarian-wide climatic temperature gradient, and
 also no interactive effects were observed. However, arthropod predation
 rates were limited by low local mean temperatures, tended to decrease
 towards higher relative humidity and increased towards more diverse
 landscapes at a 2-km scale. Thus, high arthropod predation rates in open
 herbaceous vegetation are favoured by diverse landscapes independent of
 the dominant habitat in the vicinity. Diversifying landscapes may help to
 improve top-down control of herbivores, e.g. agricultural pests, but more
 research is needed to derive specific recommendations on landscape
 management. Little influence of MAT on predation rates suggests that
 moderate increases of MAT may not strongly alter this process in the near
 future.
description: Twenty artificial caterpillars made from green plasticine
 (diameter 3 mm, length 20 mm) were placed at ground level on open
 herbaceous vegetation for a 2-d period. Arthropod attack marks on
 caterpillars were assessed in the field, and those caterpillars brought to
 the lab were double-checked (raw data). From the number of assessed
 caterpillars with and without arthropod attack marks, arthropod predation
 rates were calculated and data aquired in deviation from the protocol were
 excluded (processed data). For details see 'Fricke et al predation
 data processing' in the usage notes and address the related
 manuscript.
description: <strong>Fricke et al predation
 data processing (.R file)</strong> This R-script contains all code needed to
 process data in preparation for data analysis. Fricke_et_al_predation_data_processing.R <strong>Fricke et al predation data analysis (.R file)</strong> This R-script contains the code used to analyse arthropod predation rates including generalized linear mixed effect models and multimodel averaging Fricke_et_al_predation_data_analysis.R <strong>Fricke et al predation data processing</strong> Raw data on attack marks per individual artificial caterpillar were processed and standardized using the accompanying R-script on data processing to achieve processed data on arthropod predation rates per plot as used in the accompanying R-script on data analysis. Fricke_et_al_predation_data_raw.csv Metadata_Fricke_et_al_predation_data_raw.txt Fricke_et_al_predation_data_processed.csv Metadata_Fricke_et_al_predation_data_processed.txt <strong>Fricke et al landscape diversity data</strong> This dataframe contains the landscape variable ‘landscape diversity’ at multiple spatial scales as used in the accompanying R-script on data analysis. Fricke_et_al_landscape_diversity_data.csv Metadata_ Fricke_et_al_landscape_diversity_data.txt