Data from: Cover crops influence soil arthropod communities, decomposition rates, and plant productivity in a subsequent cash crop DOI: 10.7923/pnze-z938 RCDS ID: 85d94a42-1384-452a-a309-372020a49e01 Data, code and/or products within this dataset support the following manuscript: Manuscript Title: Cover crops influence soil arthropod communities, decomposition rates, and plant productivity in a subsequent cash crop Journal: Ecological Applications DOI: ###Pending Review Description/Abstract: These data are associated with the manuscript "Cover crops influence soil arthropod communities, decomposition rates, and plant productivity in a subsequent cash crop". We compared soil arthropod communities in a cover crop polyculture, in monocultures of each of its four constituent species (flax, sunflower, spring pea, sweet clover), and a fallow control in a three-year replicated plot-scale study. We also compared the soil arthropod communities in a subsequent wheat crop to detect legacy effects. To assess the functional implications of cover crops, we measured arthropod-mediated decomposition using litterbags, and biomass and yield of the subsequent wheat crop. Soil arthropod community composition was unique under each cover crop treatment. The polyculture cover crop on average outperformed its constituent monocultures in the ability to promote soil arthropod biodiversity but did not always outperform the best performing individual monocultures. In the subsequent wheat crop, legacy effects of cover crops on soil arthropod community composition and function were similarly detected. Arthropod-mediated litter decomposition was greatest in soil following the polyculture cover crop. Yield of the subsequent wheat crop was also greater following the polyculture cover crop compared to two of its constituent monocultures. Across all treatments, arthropod biodiversity and arthropod-mediated decomposition rates were positively associated with yield in the subsequent wheat crop. **Data Use** *License* Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International ([CC-BY](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode)) *Recommended Citation* Elmquist DC, Sone BS, Strickland MS, Eigenbrode SD. 2023. Data from: Cover crops influence soil arthropod communities, decomposition rates, and plant productivity in a subsequent cash crop (Version 1.0) [dataset]. University of Idaho. https://doi.org/10.7923/pnze-z938 **Funding** US Department of Agriculture-NIFA and Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program: 2019-38640-29880; Project: GW20-217 US Department of Agriculture-NIFA: 2022-67011-36633 US Department of Agriculture-NIFA: 2020-69012-31871 US Department of Agriculture-NIFA: 2022-67020-36110 Resource URL: https://data.nkn.uidaho.edu/dataset/data-cover-crops-influence-soil-arthropod-communities-decomposition-rates-and-plant Creator(s): 1. Full Name: Dane C. Elmquist Unique identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2575-4066 Affiliation(s): University of Idaho 2. Full Name: Bronte S. Sone Unique identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8553-5367 Affiliation(s): University of Idaho 3. Full Name: Michael S. Strickland Unique identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5349-0363 Affiliation(s): University of Idaho 4. Full Name: Sanford D. Eigenbrode Unique identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0054-8511 Affiliation(s): University of Idaho Other Contributor(s): None Publisher: University of Idaho Publication Year: 2023 Language(s): American English Subject(s): 1 Natural Sciences 1.6 Biological Sciences 4 Agricultural Sciences Keywords/Tags: biodiversity; cover crop; decomposition; legacy effects; monoculture; polyculture; soil arthropods; wheat Resource Type General: Dataset Dates: NULL Date available for the public: 2023-10-05 Sizes: 89KB Format(s): csv, xml, txt Version: 1.0 Funding References: 1. Funder Name: USDA-NIFA through the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program Award Number: 2019-38640-29880 Project: GW20-217 Title: WSARE Host Institution 2. Funder Name: USDA-NIFA Award Number: 2022-67011-36633 Title: Investigating the effects of soil arthropods on crop growth and performance 3. Funder Name: USDA-NIFA Award Number: 2020-69012-31871 Title: Creating a new bioeconomy for dairies to increase nutrient recycling, enhance productivity of crops, & stimulate prosperity in rural America 4. Funder Name: USDA-NIFA Award Number: 2022-67020-36110 Title: Synergistic response of soil function and biodiversity to multiple soil health management practices Spatial/Geographical Coverage Location: Study Area Description: Study conducted at the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service Pullman Plant Materials Center in Pullman, Washington, USA Point Location(s): -117.14683, 46.71745 Temporal Coverage: Start Date: 2019-07-24 End Date: 2022-08-08 Granularity of the Data: NULL Contact Info: Contact Name: Dane Elmquist Contact Email: elmqu059@gmail.com Related Content: Peer-Reviewed Manuscript - Ecological Applications | ###In Review Data/Code Files: The data are contained in separate tabs in the excel spreadsheet. readme.txt: project level metadata in readme.txt format pnze-z938.xml: project level metadata file in DataCite XML format database1.csv: Database 1 is the database used to analyze the data presented in Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Table 1, Table S2 database2.csv: Database 2 is the database used to analyze the legacy effect data presented in Fig. 3, part of Fig. 6, and Table S3. database3.csv: Database 3 is the database used to analyze the litterbag data presented in Fig. 4, Table 2, part of Fig. 6, and Table S3. database4.csv: Database 4 is the database containing the winter wheat biomass, yield, and grain nitrogen data used to analyze the data presented in Fig. 5 and part of Fig. 6. metadata1.csv: Metadata associated with Database1.csv. metadata2.csv: Metadata associated with Database2.csv. metadata3.csv: Metadata associated with Database3.csv. metadata4.csv: Metadata associated with Database4.csv.