Data from: Ecosystem engineering strengthens bottom-up and weakens top-down effects via trait-mediated indirect interactions

Trophic interactions and ecosystem engineering are ubiquitous and powerful
forces structuring ecosystems, yet how these processes interact to shape
natural systems is poorly understood. Moreover, trophic effects can be
driven by both density- and trait-mediated interactions. Microcosm studies
demonstrate that trait-mediated interactions may be as strong as
density-mediated interactions, but the relative importance of these
pathways at natural spatial and temporal scales is underexplored. Here, we
integrate large-scale field experiments and microcosms to examine the
effects of ecosystem engineering on trophic interactions while also
exploring how ecological scale influences density- and trait-mediated
interaction pathways. We demonstrate that (i) ecosystem engineering can
shift the balance between top-down and bottom-up interactions, (ii) such
effects can be driven by cryptic trait-mediated interactions, and (iii)
the relative importance of density- versus trait-mediated interaction
pathways can be scale dependent. Our findings reveal the complex interplay
between ecosystem engineering, trophic interactions, and ecological scale
in structuring natural systems.