Table 1. Data sets resulting from the combination of life stage and sampling scale.

Data set	Life stage	Response	N	Sampling unit	Abiotic predictors (scale)	Biotic predictors (sampling unit)
1 - 2	Adult; Male; Female	PA, AB; PA;PA	120	Pitfall trap	COVER (50×50 cm, 1×1 m quadrat); RESISTANCE (1×1 m quadrat); SOIL (1×1 m quadrat); STRUCTURE(3 m, 6 m radius)	Larva PA, AB (1×1 m quadrat); Larva_1 AB (1×1 m quadrat ); Larva_2 AB (1×1 m quadrat ); Larva_3 AB (1×1 m quadrat ); Congeneric adult PA, AB (trap)
3 - 4	Larva; Larva_1; Larva_2; Larva_3	PA, AB; AB;AB; AB	120	1×1 m quadrat	COVER (1×1 m quadrat); RESISTANCE (1×1 m quadrat); SOIL (1×1 m quadrat); STRUCTURE (3 m, 6 m radius)	Adult PA, AB (trap); Male PA (trap); Female PA (trap); Congeneric larva PA, AB (1×1 m quadrat)
5 - 6	Larva; Larva_1; Larva_2; Larva_3	PA, AB; AB;AB; AB	120	50×50 cm quadrat	COVER (50×50 cm, 1×1 m quadrat); RESISTANCE (1×1 m quadrat); SOIL (1×1 m quadrat); STRUCTURE(3 m, 6 m radius)	Adult PA, AB (trap); Male PA (trap); Female PA (trap); Neighbouring larva AB (bordering 25×25 cm quadrats)
7 - 8	Larva	PA, AB	160, 176	25×25 cm quadrat	COVER (25×25 cm, 1×1 m quadrat); RESISTANCE (1×1 m quadrat); SOIL (1×1 m quadrat); STRUCTURE(3 m, 6 m radius)	Adult AB (trap); Neighbouring larva AB (bordering 25×25 cm quadrats)

Target species = Cicindela sylvatica, congeneric species = Cicindela campestris. Data sets 1, 3, 5 and 7 correspond to location A, and 2, 4, 6 and 8 to B. Adults were captured by pitfall trapping and larvae were surveyed at three spatial scales (i.e., 1×1 m, 50×50 and 25×25 cm quadrats) (see Figure 2). The response variables (PA = presence/absence, AB = abundance) and the abiotic and biotic predictor variables included in the models are indicated for each data set. N = number of observations. Larva_1, 2, 3 = first, second, and third larval instars, respectively. COVER = percentage cover, RESISTANCE = vegetation resistance, SOIL = soil features, STRUCTURE = habitat structure; see Table 2.