Trophic niches of Collembola communities change with elevation but also with body size and life form

Climate change increases habitat loss of endemic tree species and drives forest conversion in mountainous forests. Elevational gradients provide the opportunity to predict possible consequences of such changes. While species compositions of various taxa have been investigated along elevational gradients, data on trophic changes in soil-dwelling organisms is scarce. Here, we analyze trophic changes of the Collembola community along the northern slope of Changbai Mountain, China. We sampled seven elevations (800-1700 m asl) with 150 m elevational difference along a primary forest gradient. At eight subplots per elevation, we categorized Collembola species into life forms, measured individual body lengths and bulk stable isotopes. Mean and minimum Δ15N and mean Δ13C increased with increasing elevation, while the range of Δ15N decreased. Maximum and minimum of Δ13C differed between elevations but showed no linear response. Isotopic uniqueness increased with elevation. Δ15N values of Collemb..., , , # Data for the article \"Trophic niches of Collembola communities change with elevation but also with body size and life form\"

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8pk0p2nt1](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8pk0p2nt1)

## Description of the data and file structure

Creators: Johannes Lux, Zhijing Xie, Xin Sun, Donghui Wu, Stefan Scheu
Date of issue: 2023-04-18
Corresponding author:  Johannes Lux
E-mail: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])
Address: Untere Karspüle 2, Tierökologie, 37073 Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany

Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC; No. 31861133006-42071059) and the German Science Foundation (DFG; SCHE/376/42-1) in the framework of the Sino-German agreement between the DFG and the NSFC.

Dataset Metadata:
Date of data collection: 09-2019
Sampling Location: The northern slope of Changbai Mountain (42°8’25.4004”N, 128°7’36.2352”E), Jilin Province, China
Laboratory work was...