Data Set Owner(s): Lina Adonay Urrea-Galeano Ellen Andresen Rosamond Coates Francisco Mora Ardila Guillermo Ibarra-Manríquez Title: Dung beetle activity affects rainforest seed bank dynamics and seedling establishment File: Expe1 Description: Experiment 1. Data on vertical re-distribution of artificial seeds buried in the soil at three depths. Methods: we buried six PVC cylinders (40 cm high and 15 cm diam; ≥ 50 m between cylinders) level with the surface and filled the interior with forest soil up to 33 cm. In each cylinder we buried 150 plastic beads at one of three depths: 3 cm, 5 cm or 10 cm. Spherical beads of three sizes were mixed and placed in each cylinder: 50 large, 50 medium and 50 small. On top of the soil in each cylinder we placed 50 g of fresh dung of domestic pigs, allowing access to the naturally occurring dung beetles; after 24 to 48 h (when no dung remained on the surface) we searched all the soil in each cylinder by removing layers of 1 cm and counted the number of beads in each layer. The six cylinders were used repeatedly (although not always simultaneously) until we completed 15 replicates for each depth (N = 15). Depth treatments were assigned haphazardly to cylinders. Column Headings: bead_size: sizes of spherical beads; large (7 mm), medium (4 mm) and small (2 mm) burial_depth: known depths at which beads were buried; 3 cm, 5 cm or 10 cm cylinder: a number (1-45) that identifies each cylinder movedup: number of beads moved upwards moveddown: number of beads moved downwards nomoved: number of beads that were not moved upwards neither downwards total_beads: sum of beads that were moved upwards, downwards and no moved proportion_movedup: proportion of beads moved upwards proportion_moveddown: proportion of beads moved downwards proportion_nomoved: proportion of beads that were not moved upwards nor downwards File: Expe2 Description: Experiment 2. Data on seedlings established from natural seeds buried at three depths and three treatment levels of feces and beetle manipulation. Methods: we selected 30 independent sites in the forest understory (≥ 50 m apart, >10 m away from the crown border of an adult tree of the focal species, and avoiding treefall gaps), and used a similar setup as for Expe1, except that we used 3 L plastic bottles (30 cm high, 13 cm diam) with the bottom cut off and the cap removed, instead of the PVC cylinders.In each site we buried three bottles (upside down, 2 m between bottles), with the rim of the open end level with the surface and filled with soil up to 25 cm. In each bottle we buried 70 seeds, mixing 30 Bursera simaruba and 40 Poulsenia armata seeds at one of three depths: 3, 5 or 10 cm. Sites were assigned haphazardly to one of the three depths, with the same depth used for the three bottles in a site; we had 10 replicates (sites) per depth (N = 10). In each site, each bottle was assigned to one of three beetle treatment levels. Once a week we registered established seedlings during 4 months. Column Headings: site: a number (1-30) that identifies each site burial_depth: known depths at which natural seeds were buried; 3cm, 5 cm or 10 cm beetle_treatment: treatment levels of pig feces and beetle manipulation; codes = masHmasE = 50 g of feces on the soil surface within the bottle and allowing access to dung beetles. This treatment level was covered with netting after 48 h,when all the dung had been buried by dung beetles. masHmenE = 50 g of feces and exclusion of dung beetles. Plots were immediately covered with fine-mesh netting. menHmenE = without feces, and consequently without beetles. Plots were also covered with fine-mesh netting. bottle: a number (1-90) that identifies each plastic bottle plant_species: name of natural seeds buried. Bursera = Bursera simaruba. Poulsenia = Poulsenia armata total_seeds: number of seeds of each species buried in each bottle emerged_seedlings: number of seedlings of each species established in each bottle proportion: proportion of seedlings of each species established in each bottle File: Expe3Abundance Description: Experiment 3-Abundance. Data on cumulative number of seedlings established over time from the natural seed bank in sites of single vs. recurrent defecation. Methods: we used 28 of the 30 sites used above for Expe2. In each site we had five small circular 0.10-m2 plots (plastic bucket 23 cm high and 36 cm diam; with bottom removed), buried 10 cm in the soil. Distance between adjacent plots was 2–3 m. We removed all seedlings and leaf litter from inside the plots and haphazardly assigned them one of five beetle treatment levels. The treatments with dung added once simulated single defecation; treatments with dung added four times simulated recurrent defecation, where 50 g of fresh pig dung were placed four times within a period of six months (5 wk after the initiation of the experiment, 10 wk thereafter, and again 10 wk thereafter). Each replicate (site; N = 28) was started during a three-day period: on the first day we placed the feces in the two plots with dung beetle access; 48 h later we placed dung in two of the remaining plots and immediately all five plots were covered with fine-mesh netting (to exclude dung beetles and seed rain). Biweekly during the duration of the experiment (32 wk) we counted, marked and identified all the seedlings of woody species (trees, shrubs, lianas) and palms, established in each plot. Column Headings: time_measurement: four time periods in which number of seedlings were grouped = 5, 15, 25 and 32 wk site: a number (1;3-11;13-30) that identifies each site plot: a number (1-145) that identifies each plot beetle_treatment: treatment levels of feces and beetle manipulation; codes = masHmasE1 = 50 g of feces added once and beetle access masHmenE1 = 50 g of feces added once and beetle exclusion masHmasE4 = 50 g of feces added four times and beetle access masHmenE4 = 50 g of feces added four times and beetle exclusion menHmenE = without feces or beetles number_seedlings: number of seedlings accumulated in each time period File: Expe3Richness Description: Experiment 3-Richness. Data on cumulative number of species established over time from the natural seed bank in sites of single vs. recurrent defecation. Methods: Same as above for file Expe3Abundance Column Headings: Same as above for file Expe3Abundance, but insted of column 'number_seedlings' the column name is 'number_species' number_species: number of species accumulated in each time period