Malaise_trap_ReadME.txt

  

Data set to accompany the paper "Extensive regional variation in the phenology of insects and their response to temperature across North America" published in Ecology (2023)

See below for a full list of authors and addresses.  Authors are also listed in the main data file, "Malaise_trap_Data_2019-2021.txt", which is a tab-delimited file. See the ReadMe file for a description of the variables in the main data file.

There are also separate tab-delimited files for the "repeatability" analyses, which contain a subset of data from the main data file, and an excel file with the tree swallow laying date data used to estimate the start of the three main phenological periods. 

Here, we describe the phenology and abundance of insects collected in Malaise traps using a standardized protocol at 96 sites in open, grassy habitats across North America (n = 1041 samples). Over three years (2019-2021), we found strong regional differences in the phenology of insects and their response to temperature, even within the same taxonomic group, habitat type and time of season. At a smaller scale, insect biomass at different traps operating on the same days was correlated up to about 75 km apart. This geographic and phenological variation has not been studied well, and it is a major source of controversy in previous analyses of insect declines that have aggregated studies from different locations and time periods. Using our standardized protocol, we estimate that 5 or 1% declines in insect abundance across North America could be detected with just 1 or 5 more years of sampling, respectively, of a study such as ours (131 samples/year). Thus, standardized monitoring networks such as this have the potential to answer important questions about the distribution and abundance of insects at a continental scale in a relatively short time frame.

Authors and addresses

Peter O. Dunn Dept.   of Biol. Sci., Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee   Insiyaa Ahmed U.S. Army Corps of   Engineers, Rivers Project Office   Elise Armstrong Dept. of Biology, Siena   Heights Univ.   Natasha Barlow Birds Canada   Malcolm A. Barnard Inst. of Marine Sci.,   Univ. of N.C. at Chapel Hill   Marc Bélisle Dépt. de Biologie, Univ. de   Sherbrooke   T.J. Benson Ill. Nat. Hist. Survey,   Prairie Res. Inst., Univ. of Illinois   at Urbana-Champaign   Lisha L. Berzins Dept. of Biology, Univ.   of Saskatchewan   Chloe Boynton Canadian Wildl. Service,   Environ. and Climate Change Canada   T. Anders Brown Environ. Sci. Program and Biol. Dept., Trinity College   Melissa Cady Alaska Peninsula and   Becharof Nat. Wildl. Refuges, U.S. Fish and Wildl. Service   Kyle Cameron Birds Canada   Xuan Chen Dept. of Biology, Salisbury   Univ.   Robert G. Clark Wildl. Res. Div.,   Environ. and Climate Change Canada, and Dept. of Biol., Univ. of Saskatchewan   Ethan D. Clotfelter Dept. of Biol. and   Environ. Studies, Amherst College   Kara Cromwell Div. Biol. Sciences,   University of Montana   Russell D. Dawson Dept. of Ecosys. Sci.   and Manag., Univ.of North. British Columbia   Elsie Denton US Dept. of Agri., Agri.   Res. Service, Rangeland and Meadow Forage Unit   Andrew Forbes Dept. of Biology, Univ. of   Iowa   Kendrick Fowler Hawthorne Valley   Farmscape Ecol. Program   Kevin C. Fraser Dept. of Biol. Sci.,   Univ. of Manitoba   Dany Garant Dépt. de Biologie, Univ. de   Sherbrooke   Megan Hiebert Birds Canada   Claire Houchen Dept. of Biol. Sci.,   George Washington Univ.   Jennifer Houtz Dept. of Ecol. and Evol.   Biol., Cornell Univ.   Tara L. Imlay Dept. of Biology, Dalhousie   Univ., and Pacific Wildl. Res. Centre, Canadian Wildl. Serv.   Brian D. Inouye Dept. of Biol. Sci.,   Florida State Univ.   David W. Inouye Dept. of Biology, Univ.   of Maryland, and Rocky Mountain Biol. Lab.   Michelle Jackson A Rocha Canada   Andrew Jacobson Dept. of Environ. and   Sustain., Catawba College   Kristin Jayd Dept. of Entomol., Univ. of   Maryland   Christy Juteau A Rocha Canada   Andrea Kautz Carnegie Mus. of Nat. Hist.,   Powdermill Nature Res.   Caroline Killian Environ. Sci. Program and Biol. Dept., Trinity College   Elliot Kinnear Dept. of Biol. Sci., Univ.   of Manitoba   Kimberly J Komatsu Smithsonian Environ.   Res. Center   Kirk Larsen Dept. of Biology, Luther   College   Andrew Laughlin Dept. of Environ.   Studies, UNC Asheville   Marty Leonard Dept. of Biol., Dalhousie   Univ.   Valerie Levesque-Beaudin Centre for   Biodiversity Genomics, Univ. of Guelph   Ryan Leys Birds Canada and Biol. Dept.,   Univ. of Waterloo   Elizabeth Long Mohonk Preserve   Stephen C. Lougheed Dept. of Biology,   Queen's Univ.   Stuart Mackenzie Birds Canada   Jen Marangelo Missoula Butterfly House   & Insectarium   Colleen Miller Dept. of Ecol. and Evol.   Biol., Cornell Univ.   Brenda Molano-Flores Ill. Nat. Hist.   Survey, Prairie Res. Inst., Univ. of   Illinois at Urbana-Champaign   Christy Morrissey Dept. of Biol. and   School of Environ. and Sustain., Univ. of Saskatchewan   Emony Nicholls Ministry of Forests, Lands   and Nat. Res. Operations   Jessica M. Orlofske Biol. Sci. Dept.,   University of Wisconsin - Parkside   Ian S. Pearse U.S. Geol. Survey, Fort   Collins Sci. Center   Fanie Pelletier Dépt. de Biologie, Univ.   de Sherbrooke   Amber L. Pitt Environ. Sci. Program and Biol. Dept., Trinity College   Joseph Poston Dept. of Biology, Catawba   College   Danielle Racke Claytor Nature Center,   Univ. of Lynchburg   Jeannine A. Randall Dept. of Ecosys. Sci.   and Manag., Univ.of North. British Columbia   Matthew L. Richardson Center for Urban   Research, Engagement and Scholarship, Univ. of the District of Columbia   Olivia Rooney Dept. of Ecol. and Evol.   Biol., Cornell Univ.   A. Rose Ruegg Dept. of Environ. Studies,   UNC Asheville   Scott Rush Dept of Wildl., Fisheries and   Aquaculture, Mississippi State Univ.   Sadie Ryan Dept. of Geog. and Emerging   Pathogens Inst., Univ. of Florida   Mitchell Sadowski Biol. Dept., Westfield   State Univ.   Ivana Schoepf Dept. of Science, Univ. of   Alberta - Augustana   Lindsay Schulz Cultural and Environ.   Resource Manag., Central Washington Univ.   Brenna Shea Missoula Butterfly House   & Insectarium   Thomas N. Sheehan The Jones Center at   Ichauway   Lynn Siefferman Dept. of Biology,   Appalachian State Univ.   Derek Sikes Univ. of Alaska Museum, Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks   Mark Stanback Dept. of Biology, Davidson   College   John D. Styrsky Dept. of Biology, Univ.   of Lynchburg   Conor C. Taff Dept. of Ecol. and Evol.   Biol., Cornell Univ.   Jennifer J. Uehling Dept. of Ecol. and   Evol. Biol., Cornell Univ.   Kathleen Uvino Environ. Science, Univ.of   Jamestown   Thomas Wassmer Dept. of Biology, Siena   Heights Univ.   Kathryn Weglarz Biol. Dept., Westfield   State Univ.   Megan Weinberger Dept. of Biology, Univ.   of Iowa   John Wenzel Carnegie Mus. of Nat. Hist.,   Powdermill Nature Res.   Linda A. Whittingham Dept. of Biol. Sci.,   Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee