Nest boxes as microhabitats supporting diverse arthropod communities

These datasets document arthropod communities associated with bird nesting boxes across eight woodland sites in England and Wales, and their relationship to nest occupancy and breeding performance of the European pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca). Arthropods were sampled from a total of 120 nest boxes during the breeding season. Unoccupied boxes were sampled using modified sticky traps to capture free-living arthropods, while occupied boxes were sampled using NaCl flotation to extract arthropods from nesting material. Specimens were identified to family level where possible. The arthropod dataset includes records for 3,634 individual specimens representing 82 arthropod families, with associated metadata on sampling method, nest box occupancy status, site, and box identity. Summary metrics such as abundance, family richness, Shannon diversity, and functional group classification can be derived from these data. A second dataset contains breeding data for Ficedula hypoleuca, including n..., , # Arthropod Communities and Bird Breeding Data from Nest Boxes in England and Wales

## Overview

This data package contains arthropod community data collected from bird nesting boxes, together with breeding performance data for the European pied flycatcher (*Ficedula hypoleuca*). Data were collected from eight woodland sites in England and Wales and are intended to support analyses of nest box ecology, nidicolous arthropod communities, and host–associate interactions.

Arthropods were sampled from both occupied and unoccupied nest boxes using different extraction methods, and breeding metrics were recorded for occupied boxes. The datasets can be linked at the individual nest-box level.

## Data Files

### arthropod_data.xlsx

This file contains arthropod records collected from nest boxes. Each row represents an individual arthropod specimen identified to family level where possible.

Key variables include:

* Order: Arthropod order
* Family: Arthropod family
* Subfamily: Arthropod subf..., ,