Data for: Sun, Ogushi, Tseng -Lepidoptera species richness and community composition in urban street trees

The triple threats of climate change, habitat loss, and environmental pollution have stimulated discussion on how urban areas can be modified to both mitigate heat increases and provide habitat for wildlife such as insects. The strategy of using trees to reduce temperatures has been adopted by numerous cities. However, the majority of street trees planted around the world are non-native. Studies conducted in non-urban areas have demonstrated in comparison to native plants, non-native plants are less likely to support native insect diversity. Here we use a database approach to quantify the number of native Lepidoptera species associated with 76 of the most common street tree species planted in Vancouver, Canada. We tested the prediction that compared to non-native trees, native street trees will support a higher diversity and unique community of native Lepidoptera. As predicted, native street trees were associated with five times as many native Lepidoptera species, and the Lepidoptera communities supported by native vs. non-native street trees were distinct. There was no difference in native Lepidoptera associations between broadleaf vs. coniferous street trees. These results are consistent with studies that have used active sampling techniques to investigate insect richness on a smaller subset of native and non-native tree species. Collectively, these data provide good evidence that the planting native instead of non-native trees will help stem the loss of insect diversity in urban areas.

Methods
Data were compiled from existing databases or published literature. No new data were collected.

气候变化、栖息地丧失与环境污染这三重威胁，引发了学界关于如何改造城市区域，以同时缓解气温上升并为昆虫等野生动物提供栖息环境的讨论。目前已有诸多城市采用栽植树木以降低气温的策略，但全球绝大多数栽植的行道树均为非本土树种。在非城市区域开展的研究已证实，相较于本土植物，非本土植物更难以维系本土昆虫多样性。本研究借助数据库方法，对加拿大温哥华市76种最常见栽植行道树所关联的本土鳞翅目（Lepidoptera）物种数量进行量化，并验证了如下预测：相较于非本土行道树，本土行道树能够支撑更多样化且具有独特群落结构的本土鳞翅目类群。正如预测所示，本土行道树所关联的本土鳞翅目物种数量是非本土行道树的5倍，且二者所支撑的鳞翅目群落结构存在显著差异；阔叶与针叶行道树在本土鳞翅目关联度方面并无显著差异。上述研究结果与此前采用主动采样技术、针对少量本土与非本土树种开展的昆虫物种丰富度调查结果相一致。综合来看，本研究数据充分证实：相较于非本土树种，栽植本土行道树有助于遏制城市区域的昆虫多样性丧失。

方法
本研究数据均源自现有数据库或已发表文献，未采集任何新数据。