DOI: 10.5061/dryad.34n83
title: Data from: Bee communities along a prairie restoration chronosequence: similar abundance and diversity, distinct composition

description: Recognition of the importance of bee conservation has grown in response to
 declines of managed honey bees and some wild bee species. Habitat loss has
 been implicated as a leading cause of declines, suggesting that ecological
 restoration is likely to play an increasing role in bee conservation
 efforts. In the Midwestern USA, restoration of tallgrass prairie has
 traditionally targeted plant community objectives without explicit
 consideration for bees. However, restoration of prairie vegetation is
 likely to provide ancillary benefits to bees through increased foraging
 and nesting resources. We investigated community assembly of bees across a
 chronosequence of restored eastern tallgrass prairies and compared
 patterns to those in control and reference habitats (old fields and
 prairie remnants, respectively). We collected bees for three years and
 measured diversity and abundance of in-bloom flowering plants, vegetation
 structure, ground cover, and surrounding land use as predictors of bee
 abundance and bee taxonomic and functional diversity. We found that
 site-level variables, but not site type or restoration age, were
 significant predictors of bee abundance (bloom diversity: p = 0.004, bare
 ground cover: p = 0.02) and bee diversity (bloom diversity: p = 0.01).
 There were significant correlations between overall composition of bee and
 blooming plant communities (mantel test: p = 0.002), and both plant and
 bee assemblages in restorations were intermediate between those of old
 fields and remnant prairies. Restorations exhibited high bee beta
 diversity, i.e., restored sites’ bee assemblages were taxonomically and
 functionally differentiated from each other. This pattern was strong in
 younger restorations (&lt; 20 years old), but absent from older
 restorations (&gt; 20 years), suggesting restored prairie bee
 communities become more similar to one another and more similar to remnant
 prairie bee communities over time with the arrival of more species and
 functional groups of bees. Our results indicate that old fields,
 restorations, and remnants provide habitat for diverse and abundant bee
 communities, but continued restoration of old fields will help support and
 conserve bee communities more similar to reference bee communities
 characteristic of remnant prairies.
description: Site
 ListA
 list of sites from which we collected data 2010 - 2012. Site name, the
 restoration stage and habitat type, county and locality information as
 well as total preserve size (each site was 1-ha designated within the
 larger preserves) and any management history information known my land
 managers is included.siteList.csvBee species by collection eventList of total number of individuals per bee species collected at each site; split per visit. Each site was visited 3x per year, except those designated in the Site List file as new additions in 2011. Contact Rebecca Tonietto if more descriptive data (e.g., by collection type) is requested.beeCommSiteYearVisit.csvBlooming plant cover and ground coverRaw data of ground cover and blooming plant cover per collection event date. Sites described in "Site list" file.forbsGroundCover.csv