DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2bvq83c48
title: Ecological dynamics of two seed predators, <em>Araecerus levipennis</em> and <em>Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus</em>, on <em>Leucaena leucocephala</em>

description: Two seed predators, Araecerus levipennis Jordan and Acanthoscelides
 macrophthalmus (Schaeffer), exist in the invasive tree Leucaena
 leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit. This study aimed to understand interactions
 among Ar. levipennis, A. macrophthalmus, and L. leucocephala in the
 invaded ecosystem. Bagging treatments were used to differentiate niches
 between the two seed predators. Results indicated niche partitioning
 between these seed predators as a guild, Ar. levipennis preferred
 early-stage pods while A. macrophthalmus preferred late maturity stage
 pods. Logistic regression analysis of 401 pod samples with 64.3%
 single-species occupation showed negative effects between species
 occurrence and heterospecific abundance (Ar. levipennis from 67% to 35%
 and A. macrophthalmus from 50% to 0%), suggesting interspecific
 competition. Ar. levipennis demonstrated priority effects, preempting
 resources at early maturity stages and competitively excluding A.
 macrophthalmus. Furthermore, early-stage pods attacked by Ar. levipennis
 inhibited the seed dispersal, triggering L. leucocephala to produce resin
 as a defense response. To understand the germination of predator-attacked
 seeds, damaged seeds were collected to test germination and seedling
 survival. Seeds damaged by Ar. levipennis and A. macrophthalmus
 effectively reduced germination and seedling survival in the laboratory,
 but field observations revealed that L. leucocephala compensates through
 prolific seed production. This is the first comprehensive study
 documenting Ar. levipennis as a seed predator in the L. leucocephala
 system, highlighting the complex interactions between invasive plants and
 their seed predators. These findings demonstrate that single-agent
 biocontrol is insufficient for effective management and highlight the
 necessity of biological control strategies that combine multiple control
 agents.
description: # Ecological dynamics of two seed predators, *Araecerus levipennis* and
 *Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus*, on *Leucaena leucocephala* Dataset
 DOI: [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2bvq83c48](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2bvq83c48) This dataset contains experimental data from field bagging experiments and laboratory germination trials examining interactions between two seed predators (*Araecerus levipennis* and *Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus*) and the invasive tree *Leucaena leucocephala* in Taiwan (2021-2022). ## Description of the data and file structure The dataset consists of one Excel file (main_data.xlsx) with six sheets: **Sheet 1: Bagging_Experiments**\ Pod sampling data from four treatments: (1) No-bagging (2) Late-stage-bagging (3) Early-stage-bagging (4) Complete-bagging *Variables* * Location: study sites * Treatment_ID: bagging treatment identification * Inflorescences_ID: inflorescence identification * Pods_ID: pod identification * Seed scars_N: number of seed scars * Seed in pod_N: number of seeds in pod * Ar_N: number of *Araecerus levipennis* individuals * A_N: number of *Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus* individuals * NA = not applicable **Sheet 2: Resin_soaked_seeds_Ar**\ Correlation between *Araecerus levipennis* numbers and resin-soaked seed numbers *Variables* * Resin soaked seeds_N: number of resin-soaked seeds * Ar_N: number of *Araecerus levipennis* individuals **Sheet 3: Germination_experiments_Ar** Number of germinated seeds with different damage grades by *Araecerus levipennis* *Variables* * Grade: seed damage area 0S: 0% damage area with artificial scarification 0: 0% damage area 1: 1-35% damage area 2: &gt;35-70% damage area 3: &gt;70-100% damage area * Replicate: replicate identification * Days: number of days during the study period * Seed germination_N: number of germination seeds **Sheet 4: Germination_experiments_A**\ Number of germinated seeds with different damage grades by *Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus* *Variables* * Grade: seed damage area 0S: 0% damage area with artificial scarification 0: 0% damage area A: seed damaged by *Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus* * Replicate: replicate identification * Days: number of days during the study period * Seed germination_N: number of germinated seeds **Sheet 5: Seedling_survival_Ar**\ Seedling survival numbers following *Araecerus levipennis* damage *Variables* * Grade: seed damage area 0S: 0% damage area with artificial scarification 0: 0% damage area 1: 1-35% damage area 2: &gt;35-70% damage area 3: &gt;70-100% damage area * Seed survival_N: number of surviving seedlings **Sheet 6: Seedling_survival_A**\ Seedling survival numbers following *Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus* damage *Variables* * Grade: seed damage area 0S: 0% damage area with artificial scarification 0: 0% damage area A: seed damage with *Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus* * Seed survival_N: number of surviving seedlings ## Sharing/Access information Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: * Not applicable Data was derived from the following sources: * Original data collected by authors * Study sites in Hengchun Peninsula, Southern Taiwan: (1) Fenggang (22°11.803'N; 120°41.655'E) (2) Chuhuo (22°00.483'N; 120°45.385'E) (3) Longluan Lake (21°58.160'N; 120°44.927'E) * No external data sources used ## Code/Software Statistical analyses performed using R version 4.2.0 with packages: * stats (logistic regression) * ellipse (niche partitioning) * survival (Kaplan-Meier/Cox models) * ggplot2 (visualization) Non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis, Dunn's test) were applied due to non-normal data distribution.