Insect biomass and abundance in the Wassuk, Toiyabe, Toquima, and Monitor ranges, Nevada, and on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada, California

These data document counts of insect orders and insect biomass in 5 mountain canyons in the western Great Basin (Mineral County, Nevada, and Alpine and Mono Counties, California) and 5 mountain canyons in the central Great Basin (Lander, Nye, and Eureka Counties, Nevada). Data were collected during June-August of 2018 and 2019. Data on insect biomass were collected with 10 x 15 centimeter sticky traps set at a height of 1.2 meters. Four traps were set in each of the 10 canyons, and trap locations spanned an elevational gradient. Traps were changed every 8-10 days. The number of insects on each trap was counted, the insects were identified to order, and traps were weighed to estimate relative insect biomass. Data include trap biomass, counts of each insect order on each trap, date on which the trap was collected, and location of the trap.
These data were collected in order to determine if insect biomass changed over time, differed over space, or both within the avian breeding season, or over an elevational gradient relevant to breeding birds. Insects are an important source of food for breeding birds. Data were collected at sites located within 100 meters of points at which we sample breeding birds (Fleishman 2019: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2011-0002-4 and Fleishman 2019: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2015-0031-2).