Grassland nature reserves safeguard a high species richness and biomass of grasshoppers

In the course of land-use change, especially since the mid-20th century, the area of semi-natural (unimproved) grasslands has dramatically decreased. One way to counteract this process is to designate nature reserves. However, the effectiveness of nature reserves is controversial.
The aim of our study was to evaluate the environmental drivers of species richness and biomass of Orthoptera (hereinafter termed ‘grasshoppers’) in grasslands inside nature reserves and within the intensively-used agriculture landscape (hereinafter termed ‘wider countryside’). For this purpose, we sampled the grasshoppers at the landscape scale in 45 randomly selected plots. Each plot had a size of 5 ha. The abundance of grasshoppers, as a basis for the biomass calculation, was recorded at the habitat scale in 20 meadow patches (500 m² each). In addition, various environmental parameters such as habitat diversity, mowing intensity and vegetation structure were determined at the landscape and habitat scale.
Our..., , , # Grassland nature reserves safeguard a high species richness and biomass of grasshoppers

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ghx3ffbz9](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ghx3ffbz9)

## Description of the data and file structure

These are species (Orthoptera) and environmental data collected in the field at two spatial scales (csv. files). A detailed description of the methodology and structure of the data can be found in Poniatowski et al. (2024): Grassland nature reserves safeguard a high species richness and biomass of grasshoppers. Journal of Applied Ecology.

### Files and variables

#### File: Data\_landscape\_scale.csv

**Description:** **plots of 5 ha**

##### Variables

* no_plot: Name (abbreviation) of the sample site

- species_no_all: Number of all species detected
- species_no_threatened: Number of threatened species detected
- subarea: The study area was divided into six subareas according to landscape configuration
- temperature: Summer temperature (°C) (long-term mean: 1991–202...