Data from: A summary of eight traits of Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera and Araneae, occurring in grasslands in Germany

Analyses of species traits have increased our understanding of how environmental drivers such as disturbances affect the composition of arthropod communities and related processes. There are, however, few studies on which traits in the arthropod community are affected by environmental changes and which traits affect ecosystem functioning. The assembly of arthropod traits of several taxa is difficult because of the large number of species, limited availability of trait databases and differences in available traits. We sampled arthropod species data from a total of 150 managed grassland plots in three regions of Germany. These plots represent the spectrum from extensively used pastures to mown pastures to intensively managed and fertilized meadows. In this paper, we summarize information on body size, dispersal ability, feeding guild and specialization (within herbivores), feeding mode, feeding tissue (within herbivorous suckers), plant part (within herbivorous chewers), endophagous lifestyle (within herbivores), and vertical stratum use for 1,230 species of Coleoptera, Hemiptera (Heteroptera, Auchenorrhyncha), Orthoptera (Saltatoria: Ensifera, Caelifera), and Araneae, sampled by sweep-netting between 2008 and 2012. We compiled traits from various literature sources and complemented data from reliable internet sources and the authors’ experience.物种性状分析的开展，加深了学界对干扰等环境驱动因子如何影响节肢动物（arthropod）群落组成及相关生态过程的认知。然而，目前针对节肢动物群落中哪些性状会受环境变化影响、哪些性状可调控生态系统功能的研究仍较为匮乏。由于物种类群丰富度高、性状数据库可及性有限，且不同类群间可获取的性状存在差异，多类群节肢动物的性状整合工作颇具挑战。我们从德国3个区域的150个管理型草地样地（managed grassland plots）中采集节肢动物物种数据，这些样地覆盖了从轻度利用牧场、刈割牧场到集约化管理与施肥草地的完整利用梯度。本文汇总了2008至2012年间通过扫网法（sweep-netting）采集的1230个物种的性状信息，涵盖鞘翅目（Coleoptera）、半翅目（Hemiptera，含异翅亚目Heteroptera、头喙亚目Auchenorrhyncha）、直翅目（Orthoptera，含Saltatoria、螽亚目Ensifera、蝗亚目Caelifera）以及蜘蛛目（Araneae），相关性状包括体型大小、扩散能力、取食功能群（feeding guild）及食性特化程度（仅针对植食性类群）、取食方式、取食组织（仅针对植食性刺吸类群）、取食植物部位（仅针对植食性咀嚼类群）、内栖生活史（仅针对植食性类群）以及垂直层位利用模式。我们从多类文献资源中整理获取相关性状数据，并通过可靠的互联网资源及作者团队的实践经验对数据进行了补充完善。