Local habitat complexity and its effects on herbivores and predators in urban agroecosystems

In urban community gardens, cultivated vegetation provides variable levels of habitat complexity, which can suppress pests by promoting predator diversity and improving pest control. In this study, we examine three components of the structural complexity of garden vegetation (cover, diversity, and connectivity) to investigate whether higher garden vegetation complexity leads to fewer herbivores, more predators, and higher predation. We worked in eight community gardens where we quantified vegetation complexity, sampled the arthropod community, and measured predation on cornworm eggs. We found that plots with high vegetation cover supported higher species richness and greater abundance of predatory insects. High vegetation cover also supported a greater abundance and richness of spiders. In contrast, high vegetation diversity was negatively associated with predator abundance. While high predator abundance was positively associated with egg predation, greater predator species richness had..., These datasets describe arthropods, predation levels, and vegetation characteristics sampled and measured in urban community garden sites in the California central coast in August 2019. Arthropods were sampled using a combination of visual surveys of garden plants and pitfall traps placed in sample plots. Predation levels were measured using corn earworm moth eggs as sentinel prey in sentinel pest experiments at each sample plot. Vegetation characteristics were measured in four 1.5 x 1.5 m sample plots per garden site. We used generalized linear models to analyze relationships between arhtropod abundance/richness, predation levels, and vegetation characteristics. More detailed methods are described in our Insects publication of this study. Details about each dataset are found in the README file.
Datasets included:
1) PitfallTrap_1.5.24

Abundance and species richness of herbivores and predators (all predators, ants, and spiders) sampled through pitfall traps
Egg predation (LRR, effect ..., , # Herbivores and predators

Access this dataset on Dryad:

These datasets are the summary data from the paper, \"Local Habitat Complexity and Its Effects on Herbivores and Predators in Urban Agroecosystems,\" by Azucena Lucatero, Shalene Jha, and Stacy Philpott published in *Insects* in 2024. They describe herbivore and predator biodiversity, predation on corn earworm moth eggs, and vegetation characteristics (cover, diversity, and connectivity) of plots in urban community garden sites in the California central coast sampled in August 2019.

## Description of the data and file structure

We include the two datasets that were analyzed in this study:

**1) PitfallTrap_1.5.24.csv**

This dataset includes the abundance and species richness of arthropods sampled through pitfall traps, egg predation measured through sentinel pest experiments, and sample plot characteristics.

Column Heads:

* Site
* VegTreat (vegetation complexity treatment; highveg = high vegetation complexity, lowveg = l...

在城市社区菜园中，人工栽培的植被可为栖息地提供不同程度的复杂度，通过提升天敌类群多样性、优化害虫防治效果来抑制害虫种群。本研究聚焦菜园植被结构复杂度的三个核心组分——覆盖度、多样性与连通性，旨在探究更高的菜园植被复杂度是否能够降低植食性昆虫种群数量、提升天敌类群丰度并增强捕食作用。

我们在8处社区菜园开展了研究，对植被复杂度进行量化、节肢动物群落开展采样，并测定了玉米夜蛾卵的捕食率。研究结果显示，植被覆盖度较高的样地拥有更高的物种丰富度与更多的捕食性昆虫个体数量；同时这类样地的蜘蛛类群丰度与物种丰富度也更高。与之相反，植被多样性较高的样地与天敌丰度呈负相关关系。尽管天敌丰度较高与卵捕食率提升呈正相关，但天敌物种丰富度的增加则……

本数据集涵盖2019年8月在加利福尼亚中部海岸的城市社区菜园样地中采集、测定的节肢动物群落、捕食水平以及植被特征数据。节肢动物采样采用了菜园植株目视调查与样地内放置陷阱诱捕相结合的方式。捕食水平的测定以玉米穗夜蛾卵作为哨兵猎物，在每个样地的哨兵害虫实验中完成。每个菜园样地设置4块1.5×1.5米的样方，用于测定植被特征。本研究采用广义线性模型分析节肢动物丰度/物种丰富度、捕食水平与植被特征之间的关联关系。本研究的详细实验方法已发表于期刊*Insects*的相关论文中，各数据集的具体说明可参见README文件。

数据集包含：
1) PitfallTrap_1.5.24
通过陷阱诱捕采集的植食性昆虫与天敌类群（涵盖所有捕食性类群、蚁类与蜘蛛）的丰度及物种丰富度数据；卵捕食率数据（对数响应比LRR，效应值……）# 植食性昆虫与天敌类群

可在Dryad平台获取本数据集：

本数据集为Azucena Lucatero、Shalene Jha与Stacy Philpott于2024年发表在*Insects*期刊的论文"Local Habitat Complexity and Its Effects on Herbivores and Predators in Urban Agroecosystems"（城市农业生态系统中局域栖息地复杂度及其对植食性昆虫与天敌类群的影响）的汇总数据，涵盖2019年8月在加利福尼亚中部海岸城市社区菜园样地中采集的植食性昆虫与天敌类群生物多样性、玉米穗夜蛾卵捕食率以及植被特征（覆盖度、多样性与连通性）数据。

## 数据与文件结构说明
本研究共包含两份用于分析的数据集：
**1) PitfallTrap_1.5.24.csv**
该数据集涵盖通过陷阱诱捕采集的节肢动物丰度与物种丰富度、通过哨兵害虫实验测定的卵捕食率，以及样地特征数据。
列标题说明：
* Site（样地编号）
* VegTreat（植被复杂度处理组别；highveg = 高植被复杂度，lowveg = 低植被复杂度……）