Data from: An inventory of the foliar, soil, and dung arthropod communities in pastures of the Southeastern United States

Grassland systems constitute a significant portion of the land area in the
U.S. and as a result harbors significant arthropod biodiversity.
During this time of biodiversity loss around the world, bioinventories of
ecologically important habitats serve as important indicators for the
effectiveness of conservation efforts. We conducted a bioinventory of the
foliar, soil, and dung arthropod communities in 10 cattle pastures located
in the southeastern U.S. during the 2018 grazing season. In sum, 126,251
arthropod specimens were collected. From the foliar community, 13
arthropod orders were observed, with the greatest species richness found
in Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Hemiptera. The soil-dwelling arthropod
community contained 18 orders. The three orders comprising the highest
species richness were Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera. Lastly, 12
arthropod orders were collected from cattle dung, with the greatest
species richness found in Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera. Herbivores
were the most abundant functional guild found in the foliar community, and
predators were most abundant in the soil and dung communities. Arthropod
pests constituted a small portion of the pasture arthropod communities,
with 1.01%, 0.34%, and 0.46% pests found in the foliar, soil, and dung
communities, respectively. While bioinventories demand considerable time,
energy, and resources to accomplish, the information from these
inventories has many uses for conservation efforts, land management
recommendations, and the direction of climate change science.