Dataset for "Contrasting spatial signatures of thermal and trophic individual-level niches in a community of tropical spiders"

Dataset used in the manuscript "Contrasting spatial signatures of thermal and trophic individual-level niches in a community of tropical spiders".

Abstract

The outcome of species interactions depends on how they interact with both biotic and abiotic components of heterogeneous environments. However, the trophic (Eltonian) and abiotic (Grinnellian) niches of organisms are historically quantified in isolation by ecologists. We investigated the spatial structure of thermal and trophic niches in a tropical community of web-building spiders. By quantifying body temperature and stable isotope ratios (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N), we found that spatially clustered individuals share similar trophic niches but maintain thermal divergence. This suggests that while spiders exploit the same prey in geographic proximity, they differentiate along the thermal niche through microhabitat selection. Species identity and body size explained variation in both niche dimensions. Despite substantial overlaps in thermal niches across species, microhabitat heterogeneity allowed fine-scale spatial adjustments, potentially minimizing competition for common prey and facilitating coexistence. Our findings highlight the importance of small-scale environmental variation in shaping species interactions and provide new insights into how spatial organization influences niche partitioning in natural communities.

Dataset Description

n- Number of the individual; lat- latitude; long- longitude; ID- individual code; Spp- species; Number- intraspecific number; TA_H1- Temperature day "A" hour 1; TA_H2- Temperature day "A" hour 2; TA_H3- Temperature day "A" hour 3; TA_max- max temperature in day "A"; TA_min- minimum temperature in day "A"; TA_ave- average temperature in day "A"; TA_wid- Temperature width in day "A"; TB_H1- Temperature day "B" hour 1; TB_H2- Temperature day "B" hour 2; TB_H3- Temperature day "B" hour 3; TB_max- max temperature in day "B"; TB_min- minimum temperature in day "B"; TB_ave- average temperature in day "B"; TB_wid- Temperature width in day "B"; TC_H1- Temperature day "C" hour 1; TC_H2- Temperature day "C" hour 2; TC_H3- Temperature day "C" hour 3; TC_max- max temperature in day "C"; TC_min- minimum temperature in day "C"; TC_ave- average temperature in day "C"; TC_wid- Temperature width in day "C"; T_max- max temperature; T_min- minimum temperature; T_wid- temperature width; Body_g- body weigth (grams); B_mm- whole body length (mm); Abd_mm- Abdomen length (mm); Cyh_mm- cephalothorax length (mm); I15N- Nitrogen stable isotope value; I13C- Carbon stable isotope value.