Pine Processionary Moth Incidence, Ant Communities, and Forest Structure in Central Spain

Twenty sites in Mediterranean pine forests of central Spain provide data on the relationships between pine processionary moth infestation, ant community composition, and forest structure. The dataset combines multi-year pest severity measurements with ant species diversity, functional structure, and key forest variables like pine density and tree size-class diversity. It was used to assess how biotic interactions and forest structure jointly shape pest dynamics within a food-web framework.

Use Cases

• Modeling pest incidence based on ant community composition and predator frequency
• Analyzing the effect of forest structural variables like pine density and floor openness on pest severity
• Investigating top-down controls and environmental filtering in Mediterranean forest food webs
• Assessing the relationship between tree size-class diversity and pest infestation over multiple years

Strengths

• Includes data from 20 distinct forest sites, providing spatial replication
• Combines multi-year pest measurements with detailed biotic and abiotic characterizations
• Released under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license, facilitating reuse

Limitations

• Column names and a precise row count are not provided, limiting immediate understanding of data structure
• The dataset size is given as 4173 (likely bytes or rows), but its exact meaning is unclear without documentation
• Relies on inference for data types and specific variables as detailed column metadata is absent

Provenance

Source

Francisco Martín Azcárate

Collection Method

Field measurements from 20 forest sites in central Spain, combining pest monitoring, ant community sampling, and forest structure quantification.

Time Range

Multi-year, but specific start and end years are not provided.

Freshness

Last updated March 22, 2026

Geography

Mediterranean pine forests of central Spain, dominated by Pinus pinaster and Pinus sylvestris.