Data and R code used in: Plant-herbivore interactions depend on plant richness, plant and soil history

Insect herbivores play a central role in grassland ecosystems. They depend on plants for their nutrition and exert feedback effects on plant communities. Although such reciprocal relationships are well recognized, how they are shaped by plant community diversity and history remains largely unexplored. In a full-factorial mesocosm experiment in which plant species richness (1, 2, 3, 6 species mixtures), soil and plant history conditions were manipulated, we used Spodoptera exigua (Hübner, 1808) caterpillars to inflict damage on Plantago lanceolata L. plants. We used herbivore performance, plant performance, and various plant traits to investigate two main questions: (I) the interactive effects of plant traits, plant diversity, and plant and soil history on herbivore performance, and (II) the impact of herbivory on plant traits and performance, considering varying plant diversity and plant and soil history. This dataset contains data and R code for this study.