Pitfall traps (four traps per plot, located at the corners of the central 10 x 10 m subplot) were used to assess the activity abundance and species richness of Formicidae in relation to the plots' woody plant diversity. The data allow to test to w...

Plant functional traits, especially leaf traits, are accepted proxies for ecosystem properties. Typically, they are measured at the species level, neglecting within-species variation. While there is extensive knowledge about functional trait chang...

Soil chemical laboratory analyses of VIPs and selected plots on Site B. Cation exchange capacity, base saturation and soil fertility attributes of six depth increments per plot.

Soil chemical laboratory analyses of VIPs and VIPReps on Site A. Contents of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur as well as pH-values (in H2O and KCl) of five depth increments per plot.

Soil chemical laboratory analyses of VIPs and selected plots on Site A. Cation exchange capacity, base saturation and soil fertility attributes of six depth increments per plot.

Based on a comprehensive dataset of lepidopteran herbivores recorded from the BEF sites, we tested the contribution to herbivore species co-occurrence of herbivore phylogenetic relatedness, plant diversity and functional traits, and spatial scale....