DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8pk0p2nt1
title: Data from: Trophic niches of Collembola communities change with elevation but also with body size and life form

description: Climate change increases habitat loss of endemic tree species and drives
 forest conversion in mountainous forests. Elevational gradients provide
 the opportunity to predict possible consequences of such changes. While
 species compositions of various taxa have been investigated along
 elevational gradients, data on trophic changes in soil-dwelling organisms
 is scarce. Here, we analyze trophic changes of the Collembola community
 along the northern slope of Changbai Mountain, China. We sampled seven
 elevations (800-1700 m asl) with 150 m elevational
 difference along a primary forest gradient. At eight subplots per
 elevation, we categorized Collembola species into life forms, measured
 individual body lengths and bulk stable isotopes. Mean and minimum Δ15N
 and mean Δ13C increased with increasing elevation, while the range of Δ15N
 decreased. Maximum and minimum of Δ13C differed between elevations but
 showed no linear response. Isotopic uniqueness increased with elevation.
 Δ15N values of Collembola species occurring across all elevations
 increased with elevation. Changes in Δ15N with elevation were most
 pronounced in hemiedaphic species. Δ15N values increased with decreasing
 body size in hemiedaphic and euedaphic species. Δ13C increased strongest
 with elevation in euedaphic species. Overall, the results suggest that
 Collembola species functioning as primary decomposers shift towards
 functioning as secondary decomposers at higher elevations. Further, access
 to alternative food resources may depend on Collembola life form and body
 size, this relationship, however, likely varies between ecosystems.
 Collembola functioning as secondary decomposers in coniferous forests may
 function as primary decomposers under climate driven forest conversion as
 species boundaries of tree species of lower elevations expand.
description: # Data for the article "Trophic niches of Collembola communities
 change with elevation but also with body size and life form"
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8pk0p2nt1](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8pk0p2nt1) ## Description of the data and file structure Creators: Johannes Lux, Zhijing Xie, Xin Sun, Donghui Wu, Stefan Scheu Date of issue: 2023-04-18 Corresponding author:  Johannes Lux E-mail: [johannesmichel.lux@uni-goettingen.de](mailto:johannesmichel.lux@uni-goettingen.de) Address: Untere Karspüle 2, Tierökologie, 37073 Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC; No. 31861133006-42071059) and the German Science Foundation (DFG; SCHE/376/42-1) in the framework of the Sino-German agreement between the DFG and the NSFC. Dataset Metadata: Date of data collection: 09-2019 Sampling Location: The northern slope of Changbai Mountain (42°8’25.4004”N, 128°7’36.2352”E), Jilin Province, China Laboratory work was conducted in the J.-F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany For details of sample handling and measurement please see the respective publication. ## Filelist: "**Iso_metric_env_factors.CSV**" "**Iso_BS.CSV**" Filename: "**Iso_metric.CSV**" Variables: elevation: sampled elevation subplot: replicate (per elevation) min_D13C: minimum weighted Delta 13C value [‰] min_D15N: minimum weighted Delta 15N value [‰] max_D13C: maximum weighted Delta 13C [‰] max_D15N: maximum weighted Delta 15N [‰] range_D13C: range of weighted Delta 13C values [‰] range_D15N: range of weighted Delta 15N values [‰] IPos_D13C: weighted mean Delta 13C values [‰] IPos_D15N: weighted mean Delta 15N values [‰] IRic: Isotopic richness, see Details [dimensionless] IDiv: Isotopic divergence, see Details [dimensionless] IDis: Isotopic dispersion, see Details [dimensionless] IEve: Isotopic evenness, see Details [dimensionless] IUni: Isotopic uniqueness, see Details [dimensionless] Details: Contains stable isotope metrics of the Collembola community at the northern slope of Changbai Mountain, Jilin, China. Values are calculated from raw data of "Iso_BS.CSV" as proposed by Cucherousset and Villéger (2015)[1]. NA indicate that values could not be calculated, due to insufficient number of species for calculating Isotopic metrics (three plots); These were excluded from analyses. \[1] Cucherousset J, Villéger S (2015) Quantifying the multiple facets of isotopic diversity: New metrics for stable isotope ecology. Ecological Indicators 56: 152-160 doi: [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.03.032](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.03.032) Multidimensional Isotopic metrics: Isotopic richness (IRic) representing the convex hull area spanning the total isotopic space of species; IRic was not weighted by abundance. Isotopic divergence (IDiv) which approaches 1 if Collembola species with extreme diverging isotopic signatures are abundant and approaches 0 if they are rare. Isotopic dispersion (IDis) which approaches 1 if abundant species have diverging isotopic signatures, whereas it approaches 0 if abundant species have similar isotopic signatures. Isotopic evenness (IEve) which approaches 1 if species are evenly distributed in the isotopic space, whereas it approaches 0 if species cluster in a small area of the isotopic space. Isotopic uniqueness (IUni) which approaches 1 if species occupy unique positions in the isotopic space, whereas it approaches 0 if species share similar isotopic niches. This dataset represents The major results as reported in the Publication "Trophic niches of Collembola communities change with elevation but also with body size and life form". Data is calculated from raw data as presented in "Iso_BS.CSV" \--- Filename: "**Iso_BS.CSV**" Variables: elevation: sampled elevation subplot: replicate (per elevation) family: family of the respective Collembola species species: Collembola species genus: genus of the respective Collembola species d15N: delta 15N measurements of Collembola [‰] d13C: delta 13C measurements of Collembola [‰] X15N: delta 15N measurements of litter material [‰] X13C: delta 13C measurements of litter material [‰] D15N: litter calibrated delta 15N of Collembola [‰] D13C: litter calibrated delta 13C of Collembola [‰] BS_mean: abu_sub: abundance of species per subplot Details: Contains delta 13C and delta 15N values of Collembola bulk measurements, delta 13C and delta 15N measurements of intact litter material, as well as the normalised values expressed as capital Delta 13C and Delta 15N. Further it contains abundances of species per subplot as used for calculations of stable isotope metrics, reported in "Iso_metric.CSV". And mean body sizes of individuals of the respective isotope measurements. Delta values were calculated as (R sample - R standard)/(R standard)*1000. With R being the 15N/14N or 13C/12C ratio in the sample and standard. "Vienna Pee Dee belemnite" was used as standard for 13C and atmospheric Nitrogen for 15N measurements. The calculated delta values were calibrated using the delta values of litter from the respective elevation and subplot as baseline and are expressed as capital Delta. For details of measurement please see the respective publication. This dataset represent the backbone of trophic analyses based on bulk stable isotopes in the respective publication. This dataset is of interest for following up studies at Changbai Mountain China. Especially, if interested in the elevational gradient. Data is given per elevation, subplot and species.