DOI: 10.5061/dryad.37pvmcvr3
title: Data for: Sampling local ant diversities and the importance of trait analyses

description: Ants are an incredibly diverse and ubiquitous group of invertebrates in
 most terrestrial ecosystems. Although extensively sampled, the majority of
 ant inventories do not evaluate the effect of different sampling
 techniques in capturing non-traditional metrics of diversity. We aimed to
 quantify TD (taxonomic) and FD (functional) diversities for a local ant
 assemblage by integrating metrics and evaluating complementarity of
 pitfall traps and Winkler extractors for the leaf-litter vs. epigaeic ant
 faunas and to determine the effect of sampling techniques on functional
 composition (community-weighted means of 11 morphological traits,
 see Table S1 in the Excel file and Trait_base_data.csv in this
 dataset) and functional diversity (multi-trait morphospace measured with
 three different metrics, see Table S2 in Excel file). We sampled
 the local community (Table S3 and Table S4 in the Excel
 file) in an Atlantic Forest fragment using week-long pitfall traps and 1m2
 leaf litter samples submitted to Winkler extractors and quantified the
 contribution on the technique (refer to Community_data.csv in
 this dataset) to uniquely capture the ant morphospace by applying a new
 index (PWindex). Although ant TD overlapped, FD was significantly affected
 by the sampling technique. By controlling for TD effects, the community
 collected by each technique was differentially structured. Higher TD did
 not translate into wider morphospace for Winklers. Pitfalls
 recovered more functionally overdispersed assemblages. Pitfalls and
 Winklers overlapped in the sampling of the overall community, but each
 sampling method contributed with a unique spectrum to the ant morphospace.
 Our results suggest the importance of incorporating FD metrics in local
 ant inventories and the importance of sampling techniques when measuring
 the magnitude of FD and community structure. Our PWindex further
 illuminates sampling effects for ant assemblages.
description: <strong>File:
 Tables_S1-S4.xlsx</strong> <strong>Table_S1.</strong> Ant
 morphological traits used for this study, tentatively associated with
 functional roles and details of measurements. 
 <strong>Table_S2. </strong>Multi-trait metrics used for this
 study, calculated over a Euclidean distance-matrix based on all traits
 (see Table_S1 and Table_S4 in Excel file) to calculate multi-trait
 metrics. Standardized effect sizes (SES) were used to deal with
 correlations at transect scale (N=22) between FD<sub>PG</sub>,
 MNTD, and observed species richness
 (<em>Sobs</em>). 
 <strong>Table_S3. </strong>List of ant species collected in
 the PEXJ, collected by pitfall traps (P) and with the Winkler extractor
 (W) during summer and winter seasons. <strong>Table_S4.</strong>
 Morphological measurements (average values in mm, recorded to the nearest
 0.01mm using a Leica MZ95 stereomicroscope) for all the ant species and
 morphospecies collected in the PEXJ. Consult Table_S1 in Excel file for
 explanation of the acronyms. Only minor workers were measured to avoid
 allometric influence (minimum of six conspecific individuals whenever
 possible). CSV Files <strong>File:
 Community_data.csv.</strong> Dataset for ant community collected in
 the PEXJ. Columns are as follow: area refers to edge border transects (B-1
 and B-2), season (summer or winter), and method (pitfall trap of Winkler
 extractor). 
 <strong>File: Trait_base_data.csv.</strong> Dataset for
 morphological measurements (average values in mm, recorded to the nearest
 0.01mm using a Leica MZ95 stereomicroscope) for all the ant species and
 morphospecies collected in the PEXJ. Consult Excel file for additional
 information (Table_S1 for explanation of the acronyms and Table_S4 for
 information about replicates).