Lepidoptera distribution and behaviour data from a mown boundary experiment within the Stonehenge landscape, UK, in 2012

his dataset consists of behaviour and distribution data of Lepidoptera from mown chalk grassland boundaries at the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in Wiltshire, UK, between July and August 2012. The landscape consisted of a mosaic of chalk grassland fragments on ancient burial mounds (barrows) and slopes, grassland re-creation fields of different ages since sowing, semi-improved pasture, arable farmland and woodland. In one of the grassland re-creation fields, two large areas were mown and eight 20 m long survey boundaries were set up. Four of these were set up on the edge of one of two mown areas and four were set up in areas of continuous un-mown grass which had dummy 'boundaries' parallel to the mown boundaries. The survey was conducted from the survey boundary and the flight path of individual Lepidoptera was tracked in the area 10 m either side of the survey boundary. Each individual Lepidoptera flight path was surveyed for three minutes. Each boundary was surveyed for a total of 20 minutes on three occasions over a five week period. The sequence of boundaries surveyed was chosen randomly and equal survey effort was allocated to visually searching both sides of the boundary. The order and time of day for surveying each survey area was random so to spread surveys throughout the survey period and throughout the day. Measures of vegetation characteristics and nectar flower availability were recorded for survey areas. Recorded vegetation characteristics included vegetation height and density. Nectar flower availability was measured as the number of flowering units of nectar flowers and numbers of those in the Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Dipsacaceae families. The data were collected as part of a PhD project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the National Trust. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/e3598268-22d7-4913-a736-890728ea858b

本数据集收录了2012年7月至8月间，位于英国威尔特郡斯通亨奇世界文化遗产地 chalk grassland 边界的 Lepidoptera 行为与分布数据。该景观由古代墓葬（土墩）和斜坡上的 chalk grassland 片段、不同播种年龄的草地重建区域、半改良牧场、耕作农田和林地组成。在一块草地重建区域内，划定了两个大型区域并进行了割草，同时设置了八个20米长的调查边界。其中四个边界位于割草区域边缘，另外四个则位于连续未割草区域的两侧，与割草边界平行设置模拟边界。调查活动从调查边界开始，追踪了单个 Lepidoptera 的飞行路径，范围在调查边界两侧各10米。每个个体的飞行路径被调查了三分钟。每个边界在五个星期内的三次调查中，总计调查了20分钟。调查边界的顺序和调查区域的时间均随机选择，以使调查在整个调查期间及全天范围内均匀分布。记录了调查区域的植被特征和花蜜花卉的可用性。记录的植被特征包括植被高度和密度。花蜜花卉的可用性通过计算花蜜花卉的花朵单元数量以及菊科、豆科和龙胆科的数量来衡量。这些数据是作为一项由自然环境研究委员会和国家托管机构资助的博士项目的一部分而收集的。有关本数据集的详细信息，请参阅 https://doi.org/10.5285/e3598268-22d7-4913-a736-890728ea858b