DOI: 10.5061/dryad.j0zpc86pk
title: Data from: Spatial and seasonal determinants of arthropod community composition across an agro-ecosystem landscape

description: We used Malaise traps to sample arthropod community composition at
 biweekly intervals across an agroecosystem landscape in southern Ontario,
 Canada, to evaluate the relative impact of site spacing, seasonal timing,
 weather conditions, local plant community attributes, and agricultural
 extent across the local landscape on spatial and temporal variation in
 arthropod community composition. The 15 field sites sampled spanned a wide
 gradient of agricultural extent that in isolation had a strong impact on
 spatial variation in arthropod community composition. DNA barcoding of the
 samples identified &gt;10,000 different arthropod BINs (Biodiversity
 Index Numbers). Local variation in plant community composition and canopy
 copver best explained variation in arthropod community dissimilarity.
 Weather variables followed closely in explanatory power, driven primariy
 by seasonal variation in temperature. Significant effects of time remained
 after accounting for environmental variables, with little independent
 effect of spatial distance. The proportion of agricultural land at the
 landscape scale had little detectable effect after controlling for the
 influence of the other environmental variables. Our results suggest that
 plant community composition, cover, weather conditions, and seasonality
 structured the arthropod community to considerable degree.
description: Arthropod biodiversity was sampled biweekly during May-October
 2019 from 29 Malaise traps located across 12 farms and 3 conservation
 areas in southern Ontario. The samples were stored in ethanol and the
 resulting liquid was used to used to identify biodiversity index numbers
 (BINs) using DNA metabarcoding via lab analyses conducted at the
 University of Guelph Centre for Biodiversity Genomics. Plant biodiversity
 (to genus at minimum and to species as appropriate) and relative abundance
 were sampled from 10 quadrats measuring 1 x 1 m positioned around the
 arthropod Malaise traps at monthly intervals from
 May-September. 
description: # Data from: Spatial and seasonal determinants of arthropod community
 composition across an agro-ecosystem landscape
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j0zpc86pk](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j0zpc86pk) ## Description of the data and file structure ### Files and variables #### File: Burgess\_data\_Feb03\_21.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * Trap: unique identifier for each trap based on farm owner or conservation area name * t: biweekly sampling interval * PC1: first axis of a principal components analysis (PCA) of 6 weather variables relevant to each trap location * PC2: second axis of the weather PCA * PC3: third axis of the weather PCA * PC4: fourth axis of the weather PCA * Genus_richness: total number of plant types (genus or species) counted across 10 quadrats measuring 1 x 1 m * Avg_temp: average temperature (deg C) recorded by data loggers over each 2 week collection period * CV_temp: coefficient of variation in temperature recorded by data loggers * Rel_humid: relative humidity (%) measured at nearest weather station averaged over each 2 week collection period * Wind_dir: wind direction (10s deg)  measured at nearest weather station averaged over each 2 week collection period * Wind_spd: wind speed (km/h) measured at nearest weather station averaged over each 2 week collection period * Avg_precip: average precipitation measured at nearest weather station averaged over each 2 week collection period * Ag2000: land classification code, % of land within a 2 km radius of trap that is covered by agricultural land as identified from satellite remote sensors  * Canopy_open: % of the canopy that is open based on a hand-held densiometer * Latitude: self explained * Longitude: self explained * Columns R to IK: Plant genus or species and its average cover (%) averaged across 10 quadrats 1 x 1 m in size * Columns IK to OQU: presence/absence data for specific arthropod taxa which have unique DNA barcode index numbers (BINS) linking them to the BOLD database at the Center for Biodiversity Genomics at the University of Guelph ## Code/software several files are included for path analysis and variance partitioning analysis of arthropod biodiversity data as described in the manuscript methods.