Dataset of tardigrade species and environmental variables across a vehicular traffic gradient in Argentina

This dataset includes information on tardigrade communities (<i>fauna.xlsx</i>) and environmental variables (<i>vars.xlsx</i>) collected across three traffic intensity categories (high, medium, low) in Salta, Argentina. The study explores how vehicular traffic impacts tardigrade species composition and diversity, taking into account both microhabitat conditions (temperature, moisture, pH, bark thickness, light intensity, and the percentage of lichen, moss, and bare bark cover) and air pollution indicators (wind speed, noise levels, PM2.5, PM10, and vehicular traffic).The accompanying R script was used to statistically analyze these data and assess the influence of traffic-related pollution and seasonal variation on urban tardigrade diversity. Specifically, the analyses examine patterns in alpha diversity, species composition, and beta diversity partitioning, in relation to both microhabitat and air pollution variables.

本数据集涵盖了采集自阿根廷萨尔塔市三个交通强度等级（高、中、低）区域的缓步动物（tardigrade）群落数据（存储于fauna.xlsx文件）与环境变量数据（存储于vars.xlsx文件）。本研究旨在探究机动车交通对缓步动物物种组成与多样性的影响，同时纳入两类考量变量：其一为微生境条件，包括温度、湿度、pH值、树皮厚度、光照强度，以及地衣、苔藓与裸露树皮的覆盖占比；其二为空气污染指标，涵盖风速、噪声水平、PM2.5、PM10与机动车车流量。本数据集附带的R脚本用于对上述数据开展统计学分析，以评估交通相关污染与季节变化对城市缓步动物多样性的影响。具体而言，本次分析围绕微生境与空气污染变量，探究了α多样性、物种组成以及β多样性分区的相关模式。