Replication Data for: The importance of foundation species identity: a field experiment with lichens and their associated micro-arthropod communities

This dataset contains reproduction data for \"The importance of foundation species identity: a field experiment with lichens and their associated micro-arthropod communities\" by Roos et al. 2022. The dataset contains data on microarthropod abundance extracted from lichen patches with different species compositions (from monocultures to four species in mixture). Foundation species provide habitat and modify the availability of resources to other species. In nature, multiple foundation species may occur in mixture, but little is known on how their interactions shape the community assembly of associated species. Lichens provide both structural habitat and resources to a variety of associated organisms and thereby serve as foundation species. In this study, we use mat-forming lichens and their associated micro-arthropods as a miniature ecosystem to study potential synergies between foundation species diversity and the abundance and functional diversity of higher trophic levels. We created lichen patches with monocultures and mixtures of up to four species, and extracted Collembola (identified to species level), Oribatida, Mesostigmata, Pseudoscorpiones, and Araneae with Tullgren apparatuses after 106 days of incubation within a natural lichen mat. We found that different lichen species supported different arthropod abundances. For 19 out of in total 55 lichen mixtures and arthropod groups, we found non-additive, synergistic effects on arthropod abundance, although the specific lichen mixture causing synergistic effects differed per arthropod group. In addition, synergistic effects on arthropod abundance were more common for arthropod groups at lower trophic levels. The functional diversity of lichen mixtures explained patterns in Collembola abundance, but in the opposite direction than hypothesized because synergistic responses were more frequent in functionally similar lichen mixtures. Finally, we found few effects of lichen mixture identity or diversity on the functional diversity of Collembola communities. When applied to large scale ecosystems, our results suggest that understanding interactions between coexisting foundation species and identifying those species that drive synergistic effects of foundation species on consumer biota, is likely to be of importance to biodiversity conservation and restoration efforts.本数据集包含Roos等人2022年发表的《基础物种种群特性的重要性：地衣及其伴生微节肢动物（micro-arthropod）群落野外实验》的复现数据。本数据集收录了从不同物种组成（从单种栽培到四物种混合）的地衣斑块中提取的微节肢动物丰度数据。 基础物种（foundation species）可为其他物种提供栖息环境，并调控资源的可获得性。在自然生态系统中，多种基础物种常以混合群落形式存在，但目前对其种间互作如何调控伴生物种的群落构建机制仍知之甚少。地衣可为多种伴生生物提供结构化栖息环境与资源，因此属于基础物种。 本研究以垫状地衣（mat-forming lichens）及其伴生微节肢动物作为微型生态系统，探究基础物种多样性与高营养级（trophic levels）类群丰度及功能多样性（functional diversity）之间的潜在协同效应。我们构建了单种栽培及最多四物种混合的地衣斑块，并在自然地衣垫中培养106天后，使用托尔金分离装置（Tullgren apparatuses）提取弹尾虫（Collembola，已鉴定至物种水平）、甲螨（Oribatida）、中气门螨目（Mesostigmata）、伪蝎（Pseudoscorpiones）与蜘蛛（Araneae）。 研究发现，不同地衣物种支撑的节肢动物丰度存在显著差异。在总计55组地衣混合组合与节肢动物类群配对中，有19组呈现出非加性协同效应，不过引发协同效应的特定地衣混合组合因节肢动物类群而异。此外，针对节肢动物丰度的协同效应在营养级较低的类群中更为常见。地衣混合组合的功能多样性可解释弹尾虫丰度的变化模式，但与假说方向相反——因为协同响应在功能相似的地衣混合组合中更为频繁。最后，我们发现地衣混合组合的物种组成或多样性对弹尾虫群落的功能多样性影响极小。 若将本研究结果推广至大型生态系统，那么厘清共存基础物种间的互作关系，并识别出可驱动基础物种对消费者生物群产生协同效应的关键物种，将对生物多样性保护与修复工作具有重要意义。