Raw data: Temperature and water availability drive insect seasonality across a temperate and a tropical region ...

• Main Authors: Van Dijk, Laura, Fisher, Brian, Miraldo, Andreia, Goodsell, Robert, Iwaszkiewicz-Eggebrecht, Elzbieta, Raharinjanahary, Dimby, Rajoelison, Eric Tsiriniaina, Łukasik, Piotr, Andersson, Anders, Ronquist, Fredrik, Roslin, Tomas, Tack, Ayco
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2023
• Subjects: FOS Natural sciences; arthropods; flying insect biomass; Phenology; precipitation; seasonality; Spatial distribution; Temperature; tropical and temperate climates; Arctic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ghx3ffbtk; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.ghx3ffbtk

The more insects there are, the more food there is for insectivores and the higher the likelihood of insect-associated ecosystem services. Yet, we lack insights into the drivers of insect biomass over space and seasons, both for tropical and temperate zones. We used 245 Malaise traps, managed by 191 volunteers and park guards, to characterise year-round flying insect biomass in a temperate (Sweden) and a tropical (Madagascar) country. Surprisingly, we found that local insect biomass was similar across zones. In Sweden, local insect biomass increased with accumulated heat and varied across habitats, while biomass in Madagascar was unrelated to the environmental predictors measured. Drivers behind seasonality partly converged: In both countries, the seasonality of insect biomass differed between warmer and colder sites and wetter and drier sites. In Sweden, short-term deviations from expected season-specific biomass were explained by week-to-week fluctuations in accumulated heat, rainfall, and soil moisture, ... : To describe the large-scale distribution of flying insect biomass, we sampled insects during one year in a temperate (Sweden; latitude 55.3 to 69.1) and a tropical (Madagascar; latitude -25.6 to -12.0) country, across the full latitudinal and longitudinal gradient of each country. Sweden and Madagascar are comparable in their surface area, covering ~450,000 and ~590,000 km2 respectively. The climate in Sweden ranges from oceanic to sub-Arctic, and in Madagascar from tropical humid to dry tropical. Insects were collected with Malaise traps, and preserved in 95% ethanol. In Sweden, 195 Malaise traps were set out between January and December 2019. Samples from Malaise traps were collected monthly or bi-weekly during winter and autumn (approx. October to February, depending on latitude) and weekly during spring and summer (approx. March to September, depending on latitude). In Madagascar, 50 Malaise traps were set out from August 2019 to July 2020. Samples from Malaise traps were collected every week during the ...