https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2fqz612x4

Description of the data and file structure

GC Soil Data: This dataset is the combined soil data. This includes Browne and Gregg’s (1969) soil moisture data and the contemporary soil moisture data. Column A is the "Collection Date" (written as mm/dd/yyyy) that soil samples were taken from the field. Column B is "Timeframe." This indicates whether the data is from the historical study or the contemporary study. Column C is the "Collection Time." Time was recorded for the contemporary samples, but was not documented historically. Column D is "Transect" which references whether the collection was made from transect 1 (T1) or transect 2 (T2). Transects used were taken from Browne and Gregg (1969). Column E is "Aspect" which corresponds to whether the sample was taken from the north-facing slope, south-facing slope, or the canyon bottom. Column F is "Point". Each transect had 3 points, one at each aspect location. Columns G through L go through the calculations of soil moisture which is found in Column M.

Tree Cover Data (Long): This dataset is the calculated percent tree cover for each site within the Gregory Canyon area. Column A is the "Site" within Gregory Canyon (1-33). Column B is the "Aspect" that the site was categorized in (north slope, south slope, canyon bottom). Column C is the "Timeframe" that the data corresponds to (historical vs. contemporary). Historical percent tree cover was calculated from 1940 aerial imagery. Contemporary percent tree cover was calculated from 2015 satellite imagery. Column D is "Percent Tree Cover" for each corresponding site.

Weather Station: This dataset is weather station data recorded daily from 1900 to 2022 in Boulder, CO. Weather station data taken from NOAA. Column A is the "DATE" (written as mm/dd/yyyy) that temperatures were recorded. Column B is "Max" which is the maximum temperature recorded for that day (in Celsius). Column C is "Min" which is the minimum temperature recorded for that day (in Celsius). Column D is the "YEAR" that the data was recorded.

Weather Station (Subset): This dataset is weather station data recorded during the sampling years only (1957, 1958, 2021, 2022) taken from the same weather station as above. Column A is “DOY” which is the day of year that the temperature data was recorded on. Column B is the "Year" that the temperature data was recorded. Column C is the "Date" (written as mm/dd/yyyy) that the temperature data was recorded. Column D is "TMAX C" which is the maximum temperature in Celsius that was recorded for that day. Column E is "TMIN C" which is the minimum temperature that was recorded for that day recorded in Celsius.

Gregory Canyon Ant Data: This dataset has ant collection data and microclimate information. Column A is the "Project" (BG = Browne & Gregg data; GCA = contemporary data collected in 2021; GCB = contemporary data collected in 2022). Column B is the "Date" (written as mm/dd/yyyy) that the data was collected. Column C is the "DOY" which is the corresponding day of year that the data was collected on. Column D is the "Year." Column E is the "Sampling Site" (1-33) that the data was recorded in. Column F is the "Aspect Initials" (CB = canyon bottom, NS = north-facing slope, SS = south-facing slope). Column G is the "Aspect" written out (Canyon Bottom, North Slope, and South Slope). Column H is the "Timeframe" that the data was collected in (Historical and Contemporary). Column I, "Lat", is the latitude in decimal degrees. Column J, "Lon", is the longitude in decimal degrees. Column K is "Elevation (m)" which is the elevation in meters of the collection location. For Columns L through P, Browne and Gregg (1969) did not have this data in their publication. Column L is the "Time" (24-hour clock). Column M is the "Air Temp." which is the recorded air temperature 6 inches above the ground using degrees Celsius. Column N is the "Surface Temp." which is the surface temperature recorded for each ant collection. Column O is the "Collection method" (hand, bait, aspirator). Column P is "Surface Forager." This column consists of yes or no. Answering yes means the ant was on the surface or in an open exposed area during collection. Answering no means the ant was not a surface forager and was collected in a thermally buffered environment (in a nest, underground, in litter, in a dead log, under bark, etc.). Column Q is the "Current Species" name for the ant collected. Column R is the "Genus" of the ant specimen collected. Column P is "Sp." which is the species of the collected ant specimen. Ant species names from Browne and Gregg’s (1969) were updated to current nomenclature.

Sharing/Access information

Data was derived from the following sources:

• https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/articles/5138jf577

Code/Software

All analyses were run in R, version 4.0.2.