Sunflower seed predation rates in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) plots, Kandista and Ujun Tanjung estates, Indonesia

Granivory was measured once in mature oil palm in 2014 and five times in both mature and replanted stands during 2016-2017. The basic unit for the granivory test was ten shelled sunflower seeds placed on a paper disc of approx. 15 cm diameter, covered by a polystyrene disposable plate held approx. 10cm above the soil surface with kebab sticks in order to keep the rain off. For each replicate four treatments were applied: two of the paper discs had 1cm of thick chassis grease applied round the edge and two were in cages such that there were cage + grease, cage only, grease only, and open. The traps were metal grid boxes approximately 35 x 20 x 14 cm, with no holes wider than 1cm. One test (four treatments) was carried out at each of the three sampling positions in the plot. Samples were placed out in the field for approximately 24 hours before being assessed.

Basic data checks were carried out (checks for impossible values, such as 11 of 10 seeds remaining). We have error-checked 50% of the data entry against the original field sheets, finding an acceptable error rate of <1% and correcting errors when we encountered them. All changes were recorded and that information remains with the dataset.

See Luke et al. (2019, doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2019.00075) for further details of the experimental set-up.

This dataset is included in the following collections

Managing tropical agricultural ecosystems for resistance and recovery of ecosystem processes