DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8w9ghx41c
title: Shrubs and trees as natural insect protection for grazing animals in Switzerland and the alpine region: a systematic review of <em>in vitro</em>, <em>in vivo</em> and clinical trials

description: Insect infestation in grazing animals is an increasing problem due to
 factors such as global warming and increasing resistance to insecticides,
 which has a direct impact on animal health and welfare. According to
 reports from farmers, observations in zoopharmacognosy and the ingredients
 of commercial insecticides, various indigenous trees and shrubs with an
 insecticidal or repellent effect grow or can be planted on pastures. The
 aim of our systematic review (designed according to the PRISMA statement)
 was to identify perennial woody plants from Switzerland and the wider
 Alpine region with a potential to affect the most common dipteran insects
 that are relevant for grazing animals. First, we selected 399 plant
 species (woody and perennial shrubs, bushes and trees) that are native or
 cultivable in Switzerland according to the sources Infoflora
 (https://www.infoflora.ch) and Flora Helvetica App
 (https://www.flora-helvetica.ch). Then, we created a search term which
 consisted of the Latin name and the English name of these plant species
 combined with the search term for relevant insects: ("symbovine
 flies" OR tabanid* OR tabanus OR musc* OR stomox* OR blowfl* OR
 calliphor* OR haematobia OR simuliid* OR nematocera OR gnat* OR mosquito*
 OR fly OR midge) NOT muscle*). Scientific information was searched in
 PubMed (“PubMed.Gov,” n.d.) and Web of Science (WebOfScience 2020). Only
 peer-reviewed publications with an abstract in English or in one of the
 Swiss national languages (German, French, Italian) were considered for
 further evaluation. Publications were included if they described effects
 (regardless of the type: positive or negative) of selected plants on
 insect species from the search term and if the full text was available. A
 total of 114 publications describing 503 experiments were included in the
 review.
description: # Shrubs and trees as natural insect protection for grazing animals in
 Switzerland and the alpine region: a systematic review of *in vitro*, *in
 vivo,* and clinical trials Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.8w9ghx41c](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8w9ghx41c) ##
 Description of the data and file structure The data was collected to carry
 out a systematic review of *in vitro*, *in vivo* and clinical trials
 involving shrubs and trees as natural insect protection for grazing
 animals in Switzerland and the alpine region. ###
 Schlittenlacher_et_al_Supplementary_File1_Selected_Plant_Species.csv File
 1 contains a list of 399 selected plant species (woody and perennial
 shrubs, bushes, and trees) that are native or cultivable in Switzerland.
 The file gives botanical and trivial names, growth for,m and distribution
 of the plants. ###
 Schlittenlacher_et_al_Supplementary_File2_Summary_Results.csv File 2
 contains the tabular description and outcome of 503 experiments from 114
 publications describing insecticidal/repellent effects of these plants on
 diptera of veterinary importance. The file gives details on the plant
 species, parts used and pharmaceutical form, the target insects, a short
 description of the methods and of the outcomes of the studies. ###
 Schlittenlacher_et_al_Supplementary_File2_README.csv explains the
 abbreviations used in Supplementary File 2 ## Code/software n/a