Data from: A spatial perspective on the phenological distribution of the spring woodland caterpillar peak

A classic system for studying trophic mismatch focuses on the timing of
the spring caterpillar peak in relation to the breeding time and
productivity of woodland passerine birds. Most work has been conducted in
single-site oak woodlands and little is known about how insights
generalise to other woodland types or across space. Here we present the
results of a three-year study on the species composition and temporal
distribution of the spring caterpillar peak on different tree taxa across
40 woodland sites spanning two degrees of latitude in Scotland. We used
molecular barcoding to identify 62 caterpillar species, with winter moth
(Operophtera brumata) the most abundant, comprising a third of the sample.
Oak (Quercus sp.) and willow (Salix sp.) hosted significantly higher
caterpillar abundances than other tree taxa, with winter moth exhibiting
similar trends and invariantly proportionate across tree taxa. Caterpillar
peak phenology was broadly similar between tree taxa. While latitude had
little effect, increasing elevation increased the height of the
caterpillar peak and retarded timing by 3.7 days/100m. These findings
extend our understanding of how mismatch may play out spatially, with
caterpillar peak date varying with elevation, and tree taxa varying in the
caterpillar resource that they host.