Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits

The Arthropod trait dataset contains data on life histories and ecological traits for more than 4000 northwestern European arthropod species. The data were compiled based on literature sources and expert knowledge. This dataset is published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each species (in the Taxon Core) available data on body size, fecundity, development time, mean voltinism, lifespan, dispersal capacity and thermal niche (in the Measurements or Facts Extension), as well as maximum voltinism, overwintering stage, diurnality, feeding guild, trophic range and habitat preferences (in the Description Extension). We have released this dataset to the public domain under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-NC) implying that users of data make proper reference to this dataset, and/or refer to the published paper (DOI) describing the data.

This dataset summarizes life histories, thermal niche and ecological traits for 4874 European arthropod species, aiming to construct a comprehensive dataset that could be incorporated in predictive models. With this dataset, we aim to facilitate the implementation of biological mechanisms in predictive models focused on arthropods, thereby enhancing our ability to forecast the impact of global change on these animals.