DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5t1
title: Data for: Integration of an invasive plant in hummingbird and flower mite networks is driven by ecological fitting and generalization

description: Most plant communities worldwide include exotic plants, which did not
 evolve with local organisms. The central goal of this study is to test if
 native organisms expanding to novel hosts are usually generalists or
 specialists. Here we studied a new association between hummingbirds,
 flower mites, and Musa velutina (Musaceae), an exotic plant
 native to Asia currently invading lowland forests in Costa Rica.
 Hummingbirds are pollinators, but flower mites feed on nectar without
 contributing to pollen transfer. Flower mites hitch rides on hummingbird
 beaks to colonize new flowers. To determine the original diet breadth of
 hummingbird and flower mite species, we assembled interaction networks
 including 33 native host plants, 14 hummingbird and 19 flower mite
 species. Transportation analyses show that flower mites’ colonization of
 native or exotic hosts is not constrained by hummingbird flight
 connections. We identified four hummingbird species visiting Musa
 velutina. DNA barcode analyses identified only one species of flower mite
 colonizing flowers of M. velutina. All new associations with M. velutina
 involved generalist hummingbird and flower mite species. Musa velutina
 displays both male and female flowers. Although flowers of both sexes were
 equally visited by hummingbirds, mites were 15 times more abundant in male
 flowers than in female flowers. This might be the result of constant
 immigration coupled with population growth. Only half of the mites
 hitching rides on hummingbird beaks and emigrate to newly opened flowers.
 Our results show that M. velutina integration into a plant community
 occurs mainly by establishing interactions with generalists.
description: Hummingbird plant interactions were recorded by combining data
 collected in this study with published records. Hummingbird flower mite
 interactions with host plants were identified by sequencing the DNA
 barcode CO1. Hummingbird visits to <em>Musa
 velutina </em>(Musaceae) were recorded using camera traps.
description: # Data for: Integration of an invasive plant in hummingbird and flower
 mite networks is driven by ecological fitting and generalization
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5t1](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5t1) ## Description of the data and file structure Garcia-Robledo_Alvarado_Readme file generated on 2024-Oct-12 ## GENERAL INFORMATION Date of data collection: 2023-2024 Geographic location of data collection: La Selva Biological Station, Puerto Viejo, Sarapaqui, Costa Rica ## DATA & FILE OVERVIEW #### File list * A_Data_Hand_infloresc_Musa_velutina_Oct_24_2023.csv: number of female and male hands in inflorescences of *Musa velutina.* * B_Matrix_humming_plants_Dec_02_2023.csv: Qualitative interaction matrix, presence/absence of hummingbird species visiting each plant species * C_Matrix_flower_mite_plants_2024.csv: Qualitative interaction matrix, presence/absence of flower mite species visiting each plant species * D_hummingbird connections pairs of plants.csv: Number of hummingbird species shared by each pair of host plants included in this study. Data are repeated above and below the diagonal. * E_Routes to_Musa_Velutina.csv: Sum of the number of hummingbird species shared by each native host of each flower mite with *Musa velutina.* * F_Hummingbird_visits_musa_velutina_Oct_24_2023: Number of visits per flower by each hummingbird species. This dataset also includes the sex of the flower and the number of mites embarking or disembarking in each visit. * G_Number_mites_per_flower_May_2024.csv: Number of flower mites recorded inside female and male flowers. #### Variables and information ##### A\_Data\_Hand\_infloresc\_Musa\_velutina\_Oct\_24\_2023.csv: Number of variables: 3 Number of cases/rows: 21 Plant: unique identifier for each inflorescence N_female_hands: count of female hands N_male_hands: count of male hands ##### B\_Matrix\_humming\_plants\_Dec\_02\_2023.csv Number of variables: 14 Number of cases/rows: 35 Rows: plant species Columns: hummingbird species ##### C\_Matrix\_flower\_mite\_plants\_2024.csv Number of variants: 19 Number of cases/rows: 18 Rows: plant species Columns: hummingbird flower mite species ##### D\_hummingbird connections pairs of plants.csv Number of variants: 35 Number of cases/rows: 35 Rows: plant species Columns: plant species ##### E\_Routes to\_Musa\_Velutina.csv Number of variants: 2 Number of cases/rows: 19 Mite species: MOTU assigned to each mite species Direct routes to *Musa velutina*: The sum of the number of hummingbird species connecting native hosts to *Musa velutina* ##### F\_Hummingbird\_visits\_musa\_velutina\_Oct\_24\_2023.csv Number of variants: 6 Number of cases/rows: 332 Plant: individual identifier Sex: M = male, F = female Number_flowers: count of the number of flowers in the hand Hummingbird_species: hummingbird identification Number_mites_arriving: count of mites running from the beak to the flower Number_mites_leaving: count of mites running from the flower to the beak ##### G\_Number\_mites\_per\_flower\_May\_2024.csv Number of variants: 3 Number of cases/rows: 74 Flower_sex: M = male, F = female Flower_number: flower unique identifier Number_mites: count of flower mites ## Access information Data was derived from the following sources: * Bizzarri, L. 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