Above- and below-ground herbivore communities along elevation

Despite the common role of above- and below-ground herbivore communities in mediating ecosystem functioning, our understanding of the variation of species communities along natural gradient is largely strongly biased toward aboveground organisms. This dataset enables to study the variations in assemblages of two dominant groups of herbivores, namely, aboveground orthoptera and belowground nematodes together with their food plants. Herbivores and plant surveys were conducted in 48 natural grasslands along six elevation gradients, selected to span the major macro-climatic and environmental conditions of the Swiss Alps. It compiles herbivores and plant surveys, information on the study sites as well as plant and herbivores functional traits sought to be involved in trophic interactions and to respond to climatic variation along the elevation. Plant functional traits considered are the SLA, the LDMC, the C/N content, the punch strength (i.e. force required to pierce the leave lamina), the mandibular strength for Orthoptera insect. Data were collected during the summer 2016 and 2017.