The soil food webs in this collection represent a total of 32 belowground communities studied by Neutel et al. (2007), from two natural successions in sandy dune soils: one on the Waddensea Island of Schiermonnikoog in the north of the Netherlands and the other at Hulshorsterzand, on the Veluwe, in the central Netherlands. The study sites, which constitute the two gradients, represent four consecutive stages in chronosequences of early primary vegetation succession, increasing in aboveground and below-ground productivity. The Jacobians of the 32 food webs (two series, four stages with four replicates per stage) were calculated by Neutel et al. (2007) from observed average biomass data of the respective systems, and inferring steady-state biomass flow data using a procedure described by Hunt et al. (1987). The Jacobians represent the interaction strengths of the species in the two food webs, evaluated at equilibrium.

We tracked 94 common and 50 Brunnich''s guillemots from five colonies around Iceland (Latrabjarg, Grimsey, Langanes, Skrudur and Papey) during late incubation and chick rearing from June to July 2019. We also tracked 5 common and 3 Brunnich''s guillemots from Langanes during chick-rearing in July 2020 (GPS only). Finally, we tracked 4 common and 4 Brunnich''s guillemots from Langanes during late incubation and chick rearing in June 2021. We used Pathtrack nanoFix GPS loggers to record locations every 3min and Cefas G5 TDR loggers to record depth every second. The tags recorded the birds'' behaviour for a few days (typically 2 to 3). The aim was to investigate the foraging behaviour of the two species and the potential competition between them. Funding was provided by NERC grant NE/R012660/1 (part of the NERC Changing Arctic Ocean programme).

The Antarctic food webs represent two entire above-belowground communities from Signy Island Reference Sites on Signy Island, one of the South Orkney Islands in the Maritime Antarctic. The two communities are a dry moss community (Antarctic dry tundra) and a wet moss community (Antarctic wet tundra). These two communities were the focus of intensive biological study by personnel from the British Antarctic Survey over the course of a decade in the 1970''s, of which the results were finally compiled into a meta-analysis by Davis (1981). The Jacobians of the dry and wet tundra were calculated by Neutel and Thorne (2014) using the empirical biomass and flow data of the respective systems from Davis'' analysis. The Jacobians represent the interaction strengths of the species in the two food webs, evaluated at equilibrium.

The soil food webs in this collection represent seven belowground communities from native and agricultural soils. The seven communities are from experimental research sites in the USA, Sweden and the Netherlands. The Jacobians of the seven food webs were calculated by de Ruiter et al. (1995) using the empirical biomass data of the respective systems, and inferring steady-state biomass flow data using a procedure described by Hunt et al. (1987), see further references below. The Jacobians represent the interaction strengths of the species in the two food webs, evaluated at equilibrium.

This dataset comprises conventional stomachs contents data for the biomass-dominant species of mesopelagic fish, particularly myctophid fish (Family Myctophidae) in the Scotia Sea. The data were collected by depth-discrete RMT25 net trawls deployed between 0-1000 m between the Antarctic Polar Front and the South Orkney Islands. Samples were collected repeatedly at nominal sampling stations during austral autumn 2004, spring 2006, summer 2008 and autumn 2009 for analyses examining the trophodynamics of Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish and their role in the food web. The data are the quantitative measures of diet composition (prey abundance, frequency and mass) observed from microscope analyses of individual fish stomachs per species.

Among all possible interaction types, trophic interactions are easily observable and essential in terms of energy transfer, and thus binary networks have arisen as the most straightforward method to describe complex ecological communities. These food-web models also inform on the ecosystem dynamics and function, and the patterns arising from food web topology can be indicators for ecosystem stability. We present a comprehensive pelagic network for the Scotia Sea underpinned by surveys and dietary studies conducted in the Scotia Sea in the last century. Selection of the trophic links followed a protocol based on taxonomy and geographic location, and was further refined based on the consumer and resource depth ranges and their body size ratios. The resulting network consists on 228 nodes and 10880 links which represent the main trophic paths in the Scotia Sea ecosystem and can serve as a basis for ecosystem modelling in the Scotia Sea or comparison with other ecosystems. Funding was provided by NERC Highlight Topic grant NE/N005937/1 and NERC Fellowship NE/L011840/1.

This datasets captures the body mass, bill length and bill depth of adult chinstrap penguins immediately after their arrival to Signy Island at the start of the annual breeding from 1996 to 2020. Penguins arriving at the beach were measured for bill length, depth, and body mass before being released where they were captured. These measurements were made in mid/late November, as chinstrap penguins arrive for the austral summer. This monitoring contributes to the CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP) and is part of the annual seabird Long Term Monitoring carried out by the British Antarctic Survey at Signy Island. Ecosystems component of BAS Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme, funded by NERC.

This dataset captures information on the diet composition and mass of gentoo penguin stomach contents at Signy Island, from 1998 to 2010. The monitoring period occurred over four weeks each year and involved sampling adults returning to feed their chicks during the creche period. Sampling took place approximately every five days. Numbers of birds sampled on each occasion varied over the entire period of the dataset from a maximum of eight to a minimum of six, equating to an annual maximum of forty birds and annual minimum of thirty, depending on the year. All adult penguins were sampled on their return to the colony using the stomach lavage methodology specified in CCAMLR CEMP Standard Methods A8A. The stomach samples were then weighed and categorised into krill, cephalopods, fish and non-food and identified to species level where possible. Krill carapaces and otoliths were removed and measured. Ecosystems component of BAS Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme, funded by NERC.

This dataset captures information on the diet composition and mass of chinstrap penguin stomach contents at Signy Island, from 1997 to 2020. The monitoring period occurred over four weeks each year and involved sampling adults returning to feed their chicks during the creche period. Sampling took place approximately every five days. Numbers of birds sampled on each occasion varied over the entire period of the dataset from a maximum of eight to a minimum of six, equating to an annual maximum of forty birds and an annual minimum of thirty, depending on the year. All adult penguins were sampled on their return to the colony using the stomach lavage methodology specified in CCAMLR CEMP Standards Methods A8A. The stomach samples were then weighed and categorised into krill, cephalopods, fish and non-food and identified to species level where possible. Krill carapaces and otoliths were removed and measured. Ecosystems component of BAS Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme, funded by NERC.

This dataset captures information on the diet composition and mass of Adelie penguin stomach contents at Signy Island, from 1997 to 2020. The monitoring period occurred over four weeks each year and involved sampling adults returning to feed their chicks during the creche period. Sampling took place approximately every five days. Numbers of birds sampled on each occasion varied over the entire period of the dataset from a maximum of eight to a minimum of six, equating to an annual maximum of forty birds and an annual minimum of thirty, depending on the year. All adult penguins were sampled on their return to the colony using the stomach lavage methodology specified in CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP) Standard Methods A8A. The stomach samples were then weighed and categorised into krill, cephalopods, fish and non-food and identified to species level where possible. Krill carapaces and otoliths were removed and measured. Ecosystems component of BAS Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme, funded by NERC.