Managing canopy cover to preserve forest microclimate and diverse macroarthropod communities in times of drought

Forest canopies play a vital role in buffering macroclimatic conditions, creating stable microclimates that support species unable to survive under the surrounding climate. However, disturbances driven by climate change alongside management interventions can disrupt canopy cover, altering forest microclimates and, consequently, forest-related biodiversity.
To investigate these dynamics, we monitored forest floor temperature, soil moisture, and macroarthropod communities along a canopy cover gradient in the National Park Brabantse Wouden, Belgium. Forest structure was inventoried in 2022 following the protocol of the Flemish Forest Inventory. The data was complemented by additional measurements in 2023 such as average litter depth, canopy cover estimations with a densiometer, vegetation surveys, and dead wood surveys using the line-intersect method. Forest microclimate (forest floor temperature and soil moisture) was recorded using TMS4-loggers throughout the 2022–2023 growing seasons at..., , # Data from: Managing canopy cover to preserve forest microclimate and diverse macroarthropod communities in times of drought

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.tmpg4f5b0](10.5061/dryad.tmpg4f5b0)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains information on microclimate, macroclimate, macroarthropods (woodlice and ground beetles), and local site characteristics as part of a study in Meerdaal Forest, Belgium, investigating the effect of forest structure, resulting from varying management intensities, on microclimate and macroarthropod communities. Data were collected between 2022 and 2023 across 36 plots, of which 25 were dominated by *Quercus robur* and 11 by *Fagus sylvatica*.

.CSV files have a semicolon delimiter and comma as decimal

### Files and variables

#### File: Plot-characteristics.csv

**Description:** Characteristics of each individual plot regarding forest structure and vegetation

##### Variables

* PlotID: each plot has a unique ID to link all measurem...,