Effect of changes in mowing intensity on stem-dwelling insects in an urban meadowscape

This data represents the sum total of all specimens collected during a study of the effects of changing mowing intensity on the mortality outcomes of overwintering stem-dwelling insects. This study was conducted in a meadow restoration project called The Meadoway, located in Toronto, ON. Stems of Solidago altissima were collected from the meadowscape and subjected to various mowing intensities to determine whether changes in intensity affect mowing as an environmental filter of this ecological guild. Specimens in this dataset either emerged naturally from stems or were obtained during stem dissections and represent insects which failed to emerge. All data comes from a single year of sampling., This is the raw data for the study. Stems of Solidago altissima were collected from 12 plots in The Meadoway. 400 stems were collected in late October - early November of 2022. 100 stems were collected in mid-April in 2023 from the same plots. The relevant stems were overwintered outdoors in containers and then brought into a climatized growth chamber to allow insects to emerge. Prior to overwintering, 100 stems per plot from the 400 collected in the fall were allocated to pre-overwintering dissections to record insect traits during their overwintering life stage (sessility, galling, parasitoid host, feeding guild). The remaining 300 stems were randomly allocated to three different mowing treatments: no mowing, cutting into 20cm segments, and cutting into 8cm segments, both using a miter saw. The 100 stems collected in spring 2023 comprised the overwintering control where stems had overwintered naturally in the meadow rather than in closed containers. In the growth chamber, stems f..., , # Effect of changes in mowing intensity on stem-dwelling insects in an urban meadowscape

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kkwh70sdt](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kkwh70sdt)

## Description of the data and file structure

This is the raw data for the study. Stems of *Solidago altissima* were collected from 12 plots in The Meadoway. 400 stems were collected in late October - early November of 2022. 100 stems were collected in mid-April in 2023 from the same plots. The relevant stems were overwintered outdoors in containers and then brought into a climatized growth chamber to allow insects to emerge. Prior to overwintering, 100 stems per plot from the 400 collected in the fall were allocated to pre-overwintering dissections to record insect traits during their overwintering life stage (sessility, galling, parasitoid host, feeding guild). The remaining 300 stems were randomly allocated to three different mowing treatments: no mowing, cutting into 20cm segments, and cutting into 8cm segments...,