Insect and plant data from calcareous grassland restoration sites in southern England, 2021

The dataset contains monitoring data for plants (surveyed using quadrats), sward insects (surveyed using suction samplers), insect pollinators (surveyed using transects) and sward structure (surveyed using drop disk height) across 60 calcareous grassland restoration sites from southern England and a further six wildcard sites made up of ancient grasslands and rewilding sites in 2021. Information on site management during the sampling year are also included as well as the historic age of the restoration site.

Data were collected with the goal of understanding changes in the complexity of plant and invertebrate communities during grasslands restoration with a focus on the effects of duration of restoration.