Data for beta diversity analysis of insect herbivory evolution

Modern ecosystems display complex associations of plants-insects that underwent a long evolutionary process since the appearance of mid-Paleozoic vascular plants. Although several major hypotheses explain the evolution of these plant–insect associations, the initial pattern of modern insect herbivory is poorly understood. To understand the antiquity of modern patterns of terrestrial arthropod herbivory, functional feeding group–damage type (FFG-DT) data were used to analyze a 305-million-year interval from Late Pennsylvanian to present, in which 134 plant assemblages were used to assess turnover (replacement of some species by other species between sites) and nestedness (difference in composition when no species are replaced between sites) in pairwise comparisons of DTs. Results of beta diversity analyses indicate the prototype pattern for modern insect herbivory was established on gymnosperm-dominated plant assemblages by late Middle Jurassic, antedating angiosperm dominance by 60 mill..., All the related raw data, figures and extended analyses are provided in the three datasets. Note: Some Triassic data from South Africa are not yet publicly available elsewhere and are still being processed. Researchers interested in using these data should contact Dr. Conrad Labandeira directly.
, , # Data from beta diversity analysis of insect herbivory evolution

## Description of the data and file structure

### Dataset_S1.zip

The insect herbivory data collected from Paleozoic to Cenozoic plant assemblages is displayed in Dataset S1, titled \"`Data Collection from Paleozoic to Cenozoic`,\" in an Excel file. It includes 180 plant assemblages, though only 168 have data on Damage Types (DTs) and Functional Feeding Groups (FFGs). The richness of DTs assigned to each FFG is also provided.

1\) For detailed information about each plant assemblage, the following is included:

* *Assemblage* represents the name of all plant assemblases or locality we can search before 2024, as referenced in the cited literature, such as the \"Kimin\", or \"Iceland 9-8Ma\"; 
* *Abbreviation* means the brief name of each plant assemblage, Since the NMDS figure shows the association between insect herbivory groups (FFGs) and plant assemblages, it uses abbreviated names for simplicity, as the figure cannot disp..., , **Changes after Jan 24, 2025:** The primary update involves **Dataset S2**, to which we have added 53 plant assemblages from the Carnian stage of the Triassic in South Africa. These assemblages were briefly referenced in *Labandeira et al., 2018*. We kindly request that readers interested in using this dataset **contact Dr. Conrad Labandeira directly**, as these data are still part of his ongoing research and have not yet been formally published elsewhere.

**Changes after Oct 10, 2025:** 

Three modern insect herbivory data css files (LS, SE, HF forrest) are included.

**Changes after Nov 26, 2025:** The affiliations have been updated of the authors. 

**Changes after Dec 5, 2025:** The folder name of Dataset S2 \"raw data (exclude unpublished data) 10-9\" has been updated as \"raw data\", as we already uploaded all data.

**Changes after Jan 12, 2026:** Three modern insect herbivory data css files (LS, SE, HF forrest) are updated.