Raw abundances of epigaeic arthropods on Mount Kilimanjaro

There are several data sets originating from the same pitfall trap samples. The other data set I just submitted contains mean abundances per plot. This data set now contains raw data at trap level (several traps per plot). I am planning to upload more data sets on specific taxa (spiders, springtails, beetles), and my colleagues should upload some more data sets on snails, millipedes and more springtails containing (but not limited to) specimen caught in the same pitfall trap samples. Abstract We sampled arthropod assemblages in disturbed and undisturbed vegetation types along an elevational gradient of 860–4550 m asl on the southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. On each site, ten pitfall traps were evenly spaced along two 50 m transects, with a distance of 10 m between individual traps and 20 m between transects. Pitfall traps were filled with 100–200 ml of a mixture of ethylene glycol and water (1:1 vol/vol) with a drop of liquid soap to break surface tension. Traps were exposed for 7 days each during two to five sampling events in both the dry and wet seasons between May 2011 and October 2012. As the number of individuals collected in ten traps was very high, we had to confine the sorting and subsequent analysis to sub-sets of at least three traps per sampling site and sampling event. Unfortunately, we had to find out later that the ethylen glycol procured locally was actually a mixture of ethylen glycol and 2-ethoxyethanol, which is a strong oxidizing chemical. Therefore, any sequencing of specimen caught in pitfall traps was impossible