Dataset: Arthropod overwintering in bioenergy crops

Perennial energy crops (PECs) can reduce negative impacts of intensive silage maize cultivation on the environment. Further, remaining vegetation of PECs after harvest may provide suitable habitat and more beneficial overwintering conditions for arthropods than maize. We hypothesized that after harvest and in winter, arthropod abundance and biomass are higher in PECs than in silage maize.
In a field experiment, we compared the two PECs cup plant and field grass with silage maize regarding their suitability as autumn (post-harvest) and overwintering habitats for arthropods. We measured soil temperature and moisture and analyzed biomass as well as abundance of autumn-active and overwintering arthropods of these three crops. During autumn we assessed arthropods by suction sampling in 24 plots of the experimental field. In spring we assessed soil-emerging arthropods for four times in 18 plots.
In PEC plots, soils were moister and less exposed to cold temperatures than in maize. Compared to ..., Maize, cup plant and field grass were grown on an experimental field in Braunschweig, Germany. Details for crop management can be found in Grunwald et al. 2020 GCB Bioenergy. The habitat suitability of the three crops for arthropods was assessed with two methods. Arthropods were collected with suction sampling after harvest and emerging arthropods were assessed using ground photo-eclectors in spring. Further, soil temperature and moisture were assessed in spring and winter.
Temperature was measured with Data loggers ‘Tinytag Plus 2-TGP-4500’ (Gemini Data Loggers, Chichester, UK) (range: –25 °C to +85 °C and an accuracy of 0.01 °C). Data loggers were placed in waterproof plastic boxes for protection, positioned 15 cm below soil level and covered with soil.
Moisture was measured with the device ‘HD2’ and the probe ‘TRIME-PICO 64’ (IM-KO Micromodultechnik GmbH, Ettlingen, Germany) relative soil moisture was measured at three points around the emergence trap set of each plot on every first ...,