Ant community composition and functional traits in newly established grasslands within agricultural landscapes

Ongoing intensification and fragmentation of European agricultural landscapes dramatically reduce biodiversity and associated functions. Enhancing perennial non-crop areas holds great potential to support ecosystem services such as ant mediated pest control.

To study the potential of newly established grassland strips to enhance ant diversity and associated functions, we used hand collection data and predation experiments to investigate differences in (a) ant community composition (b) biocontrol related functional traits, and (c) natural pest control across habitats in cereal fields, old grasslands, and new grassland transects of three years age. 

Whilst all data regarding biocontrol related functional traits of ant species (b) are available within the publication and its supporting information files, we provide here our raw data of ant species activity and diversity surveys (a) and further the results of sticky card experiments as a proxy for biocontrol potential (c).

欧洲农业景观持续的集约化与破碎化正大幅降低生物多样性及其关联的生态系统功能。提升多年生非作物生境的面积，对支持蚂蚁介导的害虫防治等生态系统服务具有显著潜力。

为探究新建草地样带提升蚂蚁多样性及其相关生态功能的潜力，本研究采用手采采样数据与捕食实验，针对三类生境展开研究：(a) 蚂蚁群落组成、(b) 生物防治相关功能性状，以及(c) 自然害虫控制服务，研究对象涵盖谷类农田、原生草地与三年生新生草地样带。

尽管有关蚂蚁物种生物防治相关功能性状(b)的全部数据已在本研究论文及其补充材料文件中公开，本文在此提供蚂蚁物种活动度与多样性调查(a)的原始数据，以及作为生物防治潜力替代指标的粘卡实验结果(c)。