uid=HFR,o=lter,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org all public read doi:10.6073/pasta/3b772bb84370f126c4ecc809a44ea284 Aaron Ellison https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4151-6081 Maggie Anderson https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8188-2399 Researcher Grace Duah Researcher Monica Velasco Researcher Max Ferlauto Researcher Hannah Buckley https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4170-080X Researcher 2023 English

Foundation species in forests are hypothesized to control the diversity of associated organisms and modulate core ecosystem processes. At Harvard Forest, eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is a foundation species, but its relationship to local biodiversity has not been explored in detail. This project examined co-occurrence relationships (using codispersion statistics) between forest trees and ants in the 35-hectare Forest Dynamics Plot in the Prospect Hill tract at Harvard Forest ("megaplot"), in which more than 100,000 woody stems have been identified, mapped, and measured.

ants biodiversity hemlock spatial variability tree maps LTER controlled vocabulary populations LTER core area Harvard Forest HFR LTER USA HFR default

This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.

Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal https://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0.html CC0-1.0 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf310 Prospect Hill Tract (Harvard Forest). Coordinates based on WGS84 datum. -72.18 -72.18 +42.54 +42.54 340 368 meter 2018 2018 genus Acer species rubrum red maple genus Aphaenogaster species sp. genus Camponotus species sp. genus Formica species sp. genus Lasius species sp. genus Myrmecina species sp. genus Myrmica species sp. genus Pinus species strobus white pine genus Quercus species rubra red oak genus Stenamma species sp. genus Temnothorax species sp. genus Tsuga species canadensis eastern hemlock complete Information Manager Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 hf-im@lists.fas.harvard.edu Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 (978) 724-3595 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu

Approximately 1000 trees were randomly selected using a spatially-stratified design; the number of trees of each of the four most common tree species in the plot - red maple, white pine, red oak, and eastern hemlock – was proportional to their relative basal area. Sampling algorithm is provided in the archived R file (megaplot-ants-2018-sampling.txt). At each tree, ants were sampled within a ring (annulus) whose outer – inner radius = 1m (thus, the area sampled increased linearly with the diamter of the tree). Sampling time was proportionally scaled to annular area, where the smallest possible annulus (around a tree of 10-cm diameter) was sampled for 40 person-minutes. After marking out the annulus, ant sampling was done in three steps. First, all the leaf- and twig-litter was removed from the annulus and placed in a covered plastic tub. Second, the area of the annulus was exhaustively searched; 3-4 worker ants were collected from each nest encountered and placed in a 2-ml vial filled with 95% ethanol (1 vial per nest). Third, the leaf- and twig-litter was sieved (1/4" mesh) in the field; any stray workers encountered were collected into another 95% ethanol-filled vial. Following litter sieving, the litter was redistributed around the sampled tree. All ant samples were returned to the lab, sorted, and identified. Identifications were checked/confirmed by the PI (Ellison). Nomenclature follows Ellison et. al. (2012) A Field Guide to the Ants of New England, with current updates for Lasius spp. following S. Schär et al. (2018) Journal of Biogeography doi: 10.1111/jbi.13380.

Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 (978) 724-3595 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu https://ror.org/059cpzx98 pointOfContact The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210. hf310-01-megaplot-ants-2018.csv megaplot ants hf310-01-megaplot-ants-2018.csv 73416 148a7717e4d4988fc6f2e8d0478f9680 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p31/hf310/hf310-01-megaplot-ants-2018.csv date date YYYY-MM-DD 1 day NA missing value tag unique stem tag on woody stem in the CTFS-ForestGeo plot. See HF-253 unique stem tag on woody stem in the CTFS-ForestGeo plot. See HF-253 NA missing value sp tree species in the CTFS-ForestGeo plot. See HF-253. acerru Acer rubrum pinust Pinus strobus querru Quercus rubra tsugca Tsuga canadensis NA missing value ant.sample.set sample set 1 samples taken 31 May – 27 June 2 samples taken 28 June – 31 July NA missing value ant.vial vial number in which ants are stored. Numbers restart with ant.sample.set = 2 vial number in which ants are stored. Numbers restart with ant.sample.set = 2 NA missing value genus ant genus. See HF-147 ant genus. See HF-147 NA missing value species ant species. See HF-147 ant species. See HF-147 NA missing value code ant species code (genspe). See HF-147 ant species code (genspe). See HF-147 NA missing value num.ants number of ants collected and stored in the ant.vial number 1 natural NA missing value sample.type sample type N sampled from nest L sampled from leaf litter NA missing value notes additional observations additional observations NA missing value 1139 hf310-02-megaplot-ants-2018-sampling.txt R code to generate spatial sample of trees hf310-02-megaplot-ants-2018-sampling.txt 16072 9a6bdc12a47511f11946bb3c93b9e607 R script https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p31/hf310/hf310-02-megaplot-ants-2018-sampling.txt script biodiversity plot community short-term measurement https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf160 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf118 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf147 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf119 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf113 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf253 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf097