DOI: 10.5061/dryad.c59zw3r7t
title: Plant and pollinator interactions from British Columbia from Oak Savannah, Shrub-Steppe, and restored hedgerows

description: This dataset contains the data analyzed in "Guzman, L.M.,
 Chamberlain, S. and Elle, E. (2021) Network robustness and
 structure depends on the phenological characteristics of plants and
 pollinators. Ecology and Evolution" The data comprises
 plant-pollinator interactions collected in three ecosystems (Oak Savannah,
 Shrub-Steppe and restored hedgerows) from British Columbia. These
 three vegetation types comprised three different studies. The
 average distance between sites within studies was 19km, 18km and 29km for
 the oak savannah, shrub-steppe and hedgerows respectively. For simplicity
 we use “pollinator” throughout this paper to refer to insects and
 hummingbirds observed visiting flowers and contacting reproductive organs,
 although their effectiveness at transfer of pollen has not been
 assessed.  The networks were comprised largely of bees, with
 wasps and hoverflies also common.  Less common were butterflies
 and beetles.  The plants were largely forbs with some
 shrubs;  insect-pollinated trees were not sampled for largely
 logistical reasons of tree height but tended to be uncommon in these
 ecosystems.
description: A total of 33 mutualistic plant-pollinator networks were studied
 in British Columbia, Canada: oak savannah (12 networks), shrub-steppe (8
 networks), and restored hedgerows (13 networks).  Data
 were collected for two of three vegetation types using the plot method,
 and for the third using the transect method. Plots are generally more
 appropriate when the plant species in the community are very patchily
 distributed (Gibson et al. 2011), as they were in these regions. The plot
 method focuses on individual plant species, observing each plant species
 for an equal amount of time. For oak savannah sites (within the Coastal
 Douglas Fir biogeoclimatic zone), we collected data on species
 interactions in 1-ha plots at each of six sites in both 2009 and 2010,
 resulting in 12 networks. Each plot was surveyed about every 7-10 days,
 10-12 times per season between late April and early July, the majority of
 the flowering period. Over the flowering period we attempted to visit
 sites morning, midday, and afternoon on different survey dates to reduce
 bias due to flight time differences among visiting insects. During each
 survey date, each plant species in flower was observed for a 10 min period
 by each of two surveyors, on haphazard walks throughout the plot.  All
 flower visitors were collected and identified to the lowest taxonomic
 level possible. For the eight shrub-steppe sites (in the Bunchgrass
 biogeoclimatic zone), data were collected as for oak-savannah sites, but
 surveys were from the beginning of April through the end of July, 2010,
 for a total of 12 samples per site.  These sites were only sampled in one
 year (2010) and resulted in 8 networks.  For the
 restored hedgerows sites, data were collected using a “transect” method,
 in which the plants along the transect were observed for a set amount of
 time, with time observed per plant species varying among species depending
 on their occurrence in the transect. Transects are more appropriate when
 plants are not clumped, but are widely scattered throughout a study site
 (Gibson et al. 2011), and in this case most of the restorations (within
 the coastal Western Hemlock biogeoclimatic zone) were linear, making
 transects efficient. Sampling was equal across all 13 sites, occurring
 approximately every 2 weeks, for a total of 9 samples between late April
 and the end of August, 2013. Hedgerow sampling resulted in 13 networks
 from 13 sites where each network was comprised of 9 samples. The transect
 was walked for 15 minutes by each of two observers during each sample
 date, and each site was again observed equally during morning, midday, and
 afternoon on different sample dates. Once again, all flower visitors were
 collected and identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible.
description: The readme file contains information about the different columns
 found in the data.