These data are from the manuscript "Spiders in canopy and ground microhabitats are robust to changes in understory vegetation management practices in mature oil palm plantations (Riau, Indonesia)", which has just been accepted for publication in Basic and Applied Ecology. In the manuscript, we make use of a before-after control-impact experiment, the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture Understory Vegetation Project (BEFTA-UVP), to examine how three different understory vegetation management strategies affect spiders in oil palm plantations in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia. We specifically study spiders in the canopy (sampled using canopy fogging) and on the ground (sampled using pitfall traps), assessing the influence of the three understory vegetation management strategies on the abundance of all spiders, adults only, and juveniles only; spider species richness; and spider species-level composition. We also include datasets from a sensitivity analysis, in which we assessed the influence of canopy openness on canopy-dwelling spiders.

In total, we upload 9 datasets that include information on:

• Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on abundance of canopy spiders
• Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on richness of canopy spiders
• Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on composition of canopy spiders
• Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on abundance of ground spiders
• Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on richness of ground spiders
• Effects of BEFTA-UVP treatments on composition of ground spiders
• Effects of canopy openness on abundance of canopy spiders
• Effects of canopy openness on richness of canopy spiders
• Effects of canopy openness on composition of canopy spiders