Ant abundance in pitfall traps, subterranean traps, arboreal traps, and Winkler samples at the Territory Wildlife Park experiment

Fire is a powerful tool for conservation management at a landscape scale, but a rigorous evidence base is often lacking for understanding its impacts on biodiversity in different biomes. Fire-induced changes to habitat openness have been identified as an underlying driver of responses of faunal communities, including ants. However, most studies of the impacts of fire on ant communities consider only epigaeic (foraging on the soil surface) species, which may not reflect the responses of species inhabiting other vertical strata. Here, we examine how responses of ant communities vary among vertical strata in a highly fire-prone biome. We use a long-term field experiment to quantify the effects of fire on the abundance, richness, and composition of ant assemblages of four vertical strata (subterranean, leaf litter, epigaeic, and arboreal) in an Australian tropical savanna. We first document the extent to which each stratum harbours distinct assemblages. We then assess how the assemblage of ..., This dataset consists of ant sampling done in 2021-2022, using pitfall traps (n = 855), arboreal traps (n = 855), subterranean traps (n = 1664), and leaf litter extractions (n = 168). These traps were deployed over three sampling events, in 19 plots at the Territory Wildlife Park fire experiment, near Darwin, Australia. The experiment consists of 18 1-ha plots in a randomised block design, with six burning treatments in each of the three blocks (Figure S1). The treatments commenced in 2004 and are: burnt early (first week of June) in the dry season each one (E1), two (E2), three (E3), and five (E5) years; burnt late (first week of October) in the dry season every two years (L2); and unburnt (U). We also include fire activity data, which consists of the cumulated fire intensity experienced by a plot during the experiment, and woody cover data obtained with ground-based lidar scans., , # Ant abundance in pitfall traps, subterranean traps, arboreal traps, and Winkler samples at the Territory Wildlife Park experiment

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.08kprr57z](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.08kprr57z)

This dataset contains ant species abundance collected in subterranean traps, leaf litter extractions, pitfall traps, and arboreal traps in the 18 plots of a fire experiment in Australia. For each method, there were 3 collection events, done between 2021-2022. All traps were placed in a grid at the center of a plot, consisting of three transects with 5 trapping stations each (5 x 3). Stations were separated by a distance of 10m. The total sampling effort was 855 pitfall traps, 855 arboreal traps, 1664 subterranean traps, and 168 leaf litter extractions (with Winkler sacs). The site is a tropical savanna, where experimental fire began in 2004.

## Description of the data and file structure

Following is a description of each column in the dataset.

* plot: the identity of the...

火是景观尺度保护管理的有力工具，但目前往往缺乏严谨的实证基础，以阐明其对不同生物群区生物多样性的影响。火诱导的生境开阔度变化，被认为是包括蚁类在内的动物群落响应的潜在驱动因子。然而，现有关于火对蚁群落影响的研究，大多仅关注地表（epigaeic）觅食物种，这可能无法反映栖息于其他垂直层位的物种的响应模式。本研究聚焦火频发的典型生物群区，探究蚁群落在不同垂直层位的响应差异。我们依托长期野外控制实验，量化了火对澳大利亚热带稀树草原中四个垂直层位——地下（subterranean）、凋落物层、地表层、树栖（arboreal）——蚁群的丰度、物种丰富度及群落组成的影响。研究首先明确各层位拥有独特蚁类群落的程度，随后评估各层位蚁群的……

本数据集采集自2021-2022年的蚁类采样工作，共使用四类采样手段：地面陷阱（pitfall traps，n=855）、树栖陷阱（arboreal traps，n=855）、地下陷阱（subterranean traps，n=1664），以及凋落物温克勒袋（Winkler sacs）提取法（n=168）。采样共开展3个批次，布设于澳大利亚达尔文附近的领地野生动物公园（Territory Wildlife Park）火控制实验样地的19个样方中。该实验采用随机区组设计（randomised block design），包含18个1公顷样方，分属3个区组，每个区组设置6种火烧处理（图S1）。实验自2004年启动，处理方案如下：每年旱季（6月第一周）分别实施1次、2次、3次、5次早期火烧（分别记为E1、E2、E3、E5）；每两年旱季（10月第一周）实施1次晚期火烧（记为L2）；以及未火烧对照（记为U）。本数据集同时包含火烧活动数据——即实验期间各样方累计遭遇的火烧强度，以及通过地面激光雷达扫描（ground-based lidar scans）获取的木本覆盖度数据。

# 领地野生动物公园实验样地中地面陷阱、地下陷阱、树栖陷阱及温克勒袋（Winkler sacs）凋落物提取样本的蚁类丰度
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.08kprr57z

本数据集包含澳大利亚火控制实验18个样方中，通过地下陷阱、凋落物提取法、地面陷阱及树栖陷阱采集得到的蚁类物种丰度数据。所有采样方法均开展3次采样，时间跨度为2021-2022年。所有陷阱均以网格状布设于样方中心区域，包含3条样带，每条样带设置5个捕获站点，站点间距为10米。总采样工作量为：地面陷阱855个、树栖陷阱855个、地下陷阱1664个、凋落物温克勒袋提取样本168份。该样地为热带稀树草原，实验性火烧自2004年起启动。

## 数据与文件结构说明
以下为数据集各列的详细说明：
* plot：样方标识……