Data from: Spatial and seasonal determinants of arthropod community composition across an agro-ecosystem landscape

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 >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.

本研究于加拿大安大略省南部的农业生态系统景观中，采用马氏诱捕器（Malaise trap）以每两周一次的采样频率对节肢动物群落组成开展调查，旨在评估样点间距、物候期、天气状况、本地植物群落特征以及本地景观的农业用地占比，对节肢动物群落组成时空动态的相对影响。本次共设置15个野外采样样点，其覆盖的农业用地占比梯度跨度极大，该梯度本身即可对节肢动物群落组成的空间异质性产生显著影响。对样本进行DNA条形码（DNA barcoding）分析后，共鉴定出超过10000个不同的节肢动物生物多样性指数编号（BIN, Biodiversity Index Numbers）。本地植物群落组成与冠层盖度的差异，是解释节肢动物群落相异度变化的最优因子；天气变量的解释力紧随其后，其影响主要由温度的季节动态所驱动。在控制环境变量的影响后，采样时间仍存在显著效应，而空间距离的独立影响则微乎其微。在控制其余环境变量的影响后，景观尺度下的农业用地占比几乎未表现出可检测的效应。本研究结果表明，植物群落组成、盖度、天气状况以及季节动态，在很大程度上塑造了节肢动物群落的结构。