Non-crop plant beds can improve arthropod diversity including beneficial insects in chemical-free oil palm agroecosystems

Figures & data

Figure 1. Map of Peninsular Malaysia showing the location of the control (witness) and experimental plots.

Table 1. Summary statistics of explanatory variables between witness and experimental plots.

Variable	Control				Experimental
	Mean	Median	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Median	Minimum	Maximum
Number of plant species	8.4	8	5	14	10.5	11	2	14
Number of arthropod families	15.12	16	4	22	17.22	17	10	26
Abundance of arthropods	54.67	43	9	207	64.5	63	33	155
Abundance of decomposers	3	1	0	52	1.975	1.5	0	10
Abundance of parasitoids	4.15	4	0	17	5.275	4.5	0	19
Abundance of phytophages	16.47	13	0	101	25.87	19.5	3	117
Abundance of pollinators	0.55	0	0	2	0.325	0	0	2
Abundance of predators	5.575	4	0	26	10.57	9	1	33
Abundance of scavengers	24.93	18.5	3	167	20.48	18.5	8	55

Table 2. Spearman’s rank correlation results showing the degree of association between number of plant species and predictor variables.

	Correlation	Probability
Number of arthropod families	0.336	0.003
Abundance of arthropods	0.423	<0.001
Abundance of decomposers	0.162	0.279
Abundance of parasitoids	0.210	0.083
Abundance of phytophages	0.175	0.138
Abundance of pollinators	0.317	0.206
Abundance of predators	0.408	<0.001
Abundance of scavengers	0.270	0.018

Table 3. Results of one-way ANOVA comparing the insect assemblages between witness and experimental plots.

Predictor variable	Treatment	Mean	Variance ratio	p-Value
Number of arthropod families	Control	15.13	7.14	0.009
	Experimental	17.23
Abundance of arthropods	Control	54.7	2.05	0.157
	Experimental	64.5
Abundance of decomposers	Control	3.00	0.49	0.486
	Experimental	1.97
Abundance of parasitoids	Control	4.15	2.42	0.124
	Experimental	5.28
Abundance of phytophages	Control	16.5	5.04	0.028
	Experimental	25.9
Abundance of pollinators	Control	0.550	2.88	0.094
	Experimental	0.325
Abundance of predators	Control	5.58	15.22	<.001
	Experimental	10.57
Abundance of scavengers	Control	24.9	0.83	0.365
	Experimental	20.5

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are presented within the article and its supplementary materials. Raw data supporting these findings can be obtained from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.