Data from: A summary of eight traits of Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera and Araneae, occurring in grasslands in Germany

Analyses of species traits have increased our understanding of how environmental drivers such as disturbances affect the composition of arthropod communities and related processes. There are, however, few studies on which traits in the arthropod community are affected by environmental changes and which traits affect ecosystem functioning. The assembly of arthropod traits of several taxa is difficult because of the large number of species, limited availability of trait databases and differences in available traits. We sampled arthropod species data from a total of 150 managed grassland plots in three regions of Germany. These plots represent the spectrum from extensively used pastures to mown pastures to intensively managed and fertilized meadows. In this paper, we summarize information on body size, dispersal ability, feeding guild and specialization (within herbivores), feeding mode, feeding tissue (within herbivorous suckers), plant part (within herbivorous chewers), endophagous lifestyle (within herbivores), and vertical stratum use for 1,230 species of Coleoptera, Hemiptera (Heteroptera, Auchenorrhyncha), Orthoptera (Saltatoria: Ensifera, Caelifera), and Araneae, sampled by sweep-netting between 2008 and 2012. We compiled traits from various literature sources and complemented data from reliable internet sources and the authors’ experience.

物种性状分析有助于我们深入理解干扰等环境驱动因子（environmental drivers）如何影响节肢动物群落（arthropod community）组成及其相关生态过程。然而，目前针对节肢动物群落中哪些性状会受环境变化影响、以及哪些性状可调控生态系统功能的研究仍较为匮乏。由于物种数量庞大、性状数据库（trait databases）资源有限且可用性状存在差异，多类群节肢动物的性状汇编工作极具挑战性。本研究从德国三个区域的150个管理型草地样地（managed grassland plots）中采集节肢动物物种数据，这些样地涵盖了从轻度利用牧场、刈割牧场到集约化管理施肥草地的完整梯度。本文汇总了2008至2012年间通过扫网法（sweep-netting）采集的1230个节肢动物物种的性状信息，涉及鞘翅目（Coleoptera）、半翅目（Hemiptera，含异翅亚目Heteroptera与头喙亚目Auchenorrhyncha）、直翅目（Orthoptera，含螽亚目Ensifera与蝗亚目Caelifera）以及蜘蛛目（Araneae），涵盖的性状包括体型大小、扩散能力、取食功能群（feeding guild）与植食性类群内的食性特化程度、取食方式、植食性刺吸类群的取食组织、植食性咀嚼类群的取食植物部位、植食性类群内的内寄生生活型以及垂直层位利用。本研究的性状数据整合自各类文献资料，并辅以可靠网络资源及作者团队的研究经验进行补充完善。