Data from: Landscape diversity and local temperature, but not climate, affect arthropod predation among habitat types

Arthropod predators are relevant for top-down regulation of insect
herbivores. Biotic and abiotic factors influence predator communities and
their activity with consequences for the strength of top-down regulation
(‘arthropod predation’). Anthropogenic climate and land-use change urges a
deeper understanding of the combined effects of potential drivers on
arthropod predation. This study obtained arthropod predation rates on 113
plots of open herbaceous vegetation adjacent to different habitat types
(forest, grassland, arable field, settlement) along climate and land-use
gradients in Bavaria, Germany, using a standardized method of artificial
caterpillars at ground level. Predation rates were analysed with regard to
habitat characteristics (habitat type, plant species richness, local mean
temperature and mean relative humidity during artificial caterpillar
exposure), landscape diversity (0.5–3.0-km, six scales), climate
(multi-annual mean temperature, ‘MAT’) and interactive effects of habitat
type with other drivers. Arthropod predation rates did not substantially
differ between the studied habitat types, related to plant species
richness and across the Bavarian-wide climatic temperature gradient, and
also no interactive effects were observed. However, arthropod predation
rates were limited by low local mean temperatures, tended to decrease
towards higher relative humidity and increased towards more diverse
landscapes at a 2-km scale. Thus, high arthropod predation rates in open
herbaceous vegetation are favoured by diverse landscapes independent of
the dominant habitat in the vicinity. Diversifying landscapes may help to
improve top-down control of herbivores, e.g. agricultural pests, but more
research is needed to derive specific recommendations on landscape
management. Little influence of MAT on predation rates suggests that
moderate increases of MAT may not strongly alter this process in the near
future.