Diversity-stability cascade in pond plankton experiments

This collection of files consists of freshwater plankton biomass data from
a laboratory microcosm experiment and an accompanying field mesocosm
experiment in which we manipulated the presence of two heteropteran
predators. In the laboratory experiment, we incubated 20 large microcosms
with phytoplankton and zooplankton, fully crossing a 1x vs. 2x zooplankton
density treatment with presence or absence of a single Notonecta undulata
adult. Two of these microcosms were lost, resulting in data for 18 of
these large microcosms. Concurrently, we incubated 20 small microcosms
with a smaller amount of the same plankton mix, which similarly were fully
crossed with the 1x vs. 2x zooplankton density treatment and presence or
absence of a single Neoplea striola adult. After five days we collected
the zooplankton remaining in each microcosm for identification and biomass
estimation. For the field experiment, we established 20 mesocosms (cattle
tanks) with phytoplankton and zooplankton collected from the same sources,
and added six Notonecta adults to five mesocosms, 90 Neoplea adults to
another five, and three Notonecta and 45 Neoplea to another five, with the
remaining five mesocosms acting as no-predator controls. We sampled both
the phytoplankton and zooplankton once per week for six weeks for
identification and biomass estimation.