A 30-years collection of soil macro-invertebrate abundance data from the European Alps

Here, we present abundance data from 20 soil macro-invertebrate groups from 22 different natural to artificial habitat types in the European Alps. The dataset contains data obtained from soil macro-invertebrate samples (i.e., soil blocks) collected between 1987 and 2020, with the majority of them already published individually in scientific journals. The purpose of this work is to collate the single datasets on Alpine soil macro-invertebrates to one uniform dataset, as such data is only sparsely available. We also want to appreciate the scientific lifework of our mentor and friend, the soil ecologist/soil zoologist Erwin Meyer (1948–2020). The samplings were mainly conducted by Erwin Meyer and his students at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) and Eurac Research (Italy). The assessments of the soil macro-invertebrate communities were part of several sampling campaigns including scientific projects, as well as diploma, master and doctoral theses. The sampling took place mainly during the vegetation period from April to October; in the alpine zone where snow can persist for a long time from June to September. The samples were taken in the following Alpine regions: Vorarlberg and Tirol (Austria), South Tyrol and Trentino (Italy), and the Canton of Uri (Switzerland). The abundance data is given as individuals per square metre (ind./m²) on order level (and species level in case of earthworms). Each row represents one single soil fauna sample. The event code (i.e., representing the different sampling plots) is composed of the sampling region (three letters capitalised), the habitat or plot code (three letters) and the replicate number of these plots (consecutive numbers). Additionally, to the soil fauna data, we present topographic data (elevation, exposition, inclination) as well as habitat classification (e.g., CORINE Land Cover (CLC) nomenclature code) and description.

本数据集提供了欧洲阿尔卑斯山区22种不同自然至人工生境类型下，20类土壤大型无脊椎动物（soil macro-invertebrates）的丰度数据。数据集涵盖1987年至2020年间采集的土壤大型无脊椎动物样本（即土壤块样）数据，其中绝大多数已单独发表于学术期刊。鉴于阿尔卑斯山区土壤大型无脊椎动物相关数据仍较为稀缺，本研究将此前分散的阿尔卑斯土壤大型无脊椎动物单数据集整合为一套统一数据集。同时，本研究谨以此纪念我们的导师与挚友——土壤生态学家/土壤动物学家埃尔温·迈耶（Erwin Meyer，1948–2020）的毕生科研事业。样本采集工作主要由埃尔温·迈耶及其奥地利因斯布鲁克大学、意大利欧洲研究中心（Eurac Research）的学生完成。土壤大型无脊椎动物群落的调查工作，是多项科研项目、本科毕业论文、硕士及博士学位论文的组成部分。样本采集主要集中在植被生长期的4月至10月；在积雪留存时间较长的高山区，采集时间则调整为6月至9月。采样区域涵盖以下阿尔卑斯山区：奥地利的福拉尔贝格州与蒂罗尔州、意大利的南蒂罗尔省与特伦托省，以及瑞士乌里州（Canton of Uri）。丰度数据以每平方米个体数（ind./m²）为单位，按目级阶元统计（蚯蚓类群则统计至物种级阶元）。数据集中每一行对应一份独立的土壤动物（soil fauna）样本。事件编码（即不同采样样地的标识）由三部分组成：大写三位字母的采样区域代码、三位字母的生境/样地代码，以及样地重复编号（连续自然数）。除土壤动物数据外，本数据集还附带地形数据（海拔、坡向、坡度）以及生境分类信息（例如CORINE土地覆盖（CORINE Land Cover, CLC）命名代码）与生境描述。