Data from: Spatial covariance of herbivorous and predatory guilds of forest canopy arthropods along a latitudinal gradient

In arthropod community ecology, species richness studies tend to be
prioritized over those investigating patterns of abundance. Consequently,
the biotic and abiotic drivers of arboreal arthropod abundance are still
relatively poorly known. In this cross-continental study, we employ a
theoretical framework in order to examine patterns of covariance among
herbivorous and predatory arthropod guilds. Leaf-chewing and leaf-mining
herbivores, and predatory ants and spiders, were censused on >
1,000 trees in nine 0.1 ha forest plots. After controlling for tree size
and season, we found no negative pairwise correlations between guild
abundances per plot, suggestive of weak signals of both inter-guild
competition and top-down regulation of herbivores by predators.
Inter-guild interaction strengths did not vary with mean annual
temperature, thus opposing the hypothesis that biotic interactions
intensify towards the equator. We find evidence for the bottom-up
limitation of arthropod abundances via resources and abiotic factors,
rather than for competition and predation.