DOI: 10.5061/dryad.4f4qrfjk7
title: Sites dominated by common fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia) support diverse plant-pollinator interactions

description: Biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates worldwide due largely to
 land use change and abnormal disturbance events. The high species
 diversity and endemicity found in California’s coastal sage scrub (CSS)
 are especially at risk from urban development and ongoing disturbance.
 However, several CSS plant species have disturbance adaptations which may
 allow them to serve as vital resources for insect pollinators when native
 plant diversity is threatened. Common fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii var.
 intermedia) is one of the first annual forbs to germinate in CSS and as a
 result, it occurs in high density patches in early spring which
 temporarily creates a near monoculture. Although fiddleneck is a prominent
 CSS plant, particularly in areas that have experienced a disturbance
 event, its larger ecological role is not well explored. Therefore, we
 monitored ten sites across a disturbance gradient for two spring seasons
 to assess the composition of plant-pollinator networks in
 fiddleneck-dominated plots. We found fiddleneck supported a diverse
 pollinator community with 68% of recorded taxa visiting fiddleneck. The
 plants most frequently visited included two native annual forbs (common
 fiddleneck and Phacelia distans) and two invasive annual forbs (Erodium
 cicutarium and Brassica tournefortii). Plant and pollinator abundances
 increased with increased mean precipitation. Additionally,
 plant-pollinator networks changed over time; the number of links per
 species increased throughout the season but did not differ amongst
 disturbance types. Despite the numerical dominance of fiddleneck, CSS
 supported a diversity of pollinator taxa and exhibited complex
 plant-pollinator networks across the disturbance gradient.
description: ### Sites dominated by common fiddleneck (*Amsinckia menziesii var.
 intermedia*) support diverse plant-pollinator interactions ###
 \[[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4f4qrfjk7](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4f4qrfjk7)]\([https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4f4qrfjk7](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4f4qrfjk7)) This dataset is from the manuscript "Sites dominated by common fiddleneck (*Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia*) support diverse plant-pollinator interactions" and provides the details of the plant and butterfly data analyzed in this manuscript. #### Description of the data files: all.richness = biotic and abiotic data for the plant-pollinator observations analyzed in the study year1.net = plant-pollinator network for year 1 (2022) of the study year2.net = plant-pollinator network for year 2 (2023) of the study ##### all.richness * *year:* Year of observation (2002 or 2023) * *site*: Site where observation took place (site 1-10) * *amme.foliar.cover*: *Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia* foliar cover for respective plant species (out of 100%) * *AMME.floral.cover*: *Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia* floral cover (out of 100%) * *disturbance*: Disturbance regime for respective site (single incident, recurring, none) * *ppt.month*: Average monthly precipitation (inches). Data from UC ANR ([https://ceriverside.ucanr.edu/About_CE_Riverside/weather_667/?weather=station&station=44](https://ceriverside.ucanr.edu/About_CE_Riverside/weather_667/?weather=station&station=44) * *week.num*: Week number of the respective year at time of observation * *native.poll.diversity*: Number of native pollinator species recorded * *n.honeybee*: Number of honeybees (*Apis mellifera*) recorded * *n.other*: Number of native pollinators recorded * *S.natives*: Native plant species richness * *average.invasive.cover*: Mean invasive plant cover ##### year1.net * *plants*: ACGL: Acmispon glaber; AMME: Amsinckia menziesii; CAME: Calandrinia menziesii; CRPT: Cryptantha spp.; ENFA: Encelia farinosa; ERCI: Erodium cicutarium; ERFA: Eriogonum fasciculatum; HIIN: Hirschfeldia incana; LYCA: Lycium californicum; NEME: Nemophila menziesii; PHDI: Phacelia distans ##### year2.net * *plants*: AMME: Amsinckia menziesii; BRTO: Brassica tournefortii; CAME: Calandrinia menziesii;CRPT: Cryptantha spp;ERCI: Erodium cicutarium; ERMO: Erodium moschatum; GIAN: Gilia angelensis; HIIN: Hirschfeldia incana; MAPA: Malva parviflora; PHDI: Phacelia distans; SIIR: Sisymbrium irio; VIVI: Vicia villosa