DOI: 10.5061/dryad.jsxksn05d
title: Data from: More than meets the eye? the role of annual ornamental flowers in supporting pollinators

description: Ornamental flowers are commonly planted in urban and suburban areas to
 provide foraging resources for pollinator populations. However, their role
 in supporting broad pollinator biodiversity is not well established as
 previous studies have been conducted in urban landscapes with pollinator
 communities that are distinct from those in natural systems. We observed
 pollinator visitation patterns to five ornamental annual plant genera and
 their cultivars over multiple years at two semi-natural sites in
 Pennsylvania to understand their potential for supporting diverse
 pollinator communities. There was significant variation in visitor
 abundance and diversity by season and year for many annual ornamental
 cultivars. Within some genera, cultivars had similar visitor abundance,
 diversity, and main visitor taxa, while cultivars in other genera varied
 greatly in these measures. We observed only polylectic (pollen generalist)
 bee species visiting annual ornamentals, despite the presence of
 oligolectic (pollen specialist) bee species in the background population.
 We conclude that the attractiveness of annual ornamental plants likely
 depends on both cultivar characteristics and environmental context. While
 their role in supporting complex pollinator populations is limited both
 based on the number of and dietary breadth of the species they support,
 ornamental plants may nonetheless provide long-lasting supplemental
 foraging resources for the generalist pollinator communities
 characteristic of urban and suburban environments.
description: This data represents recordings of all pollinator visitors for 10
 minutes to ornamental annual plants in a field setting in Central
 Pennsylvania throughout the summers of 2016/2017. Visitors were classified
 to morphotaxa and then later sorted into functional groups for statistical
 analyses. The data was analyzed using Generalized Linear Mixed-Effects
 Models. Also included are the floral area measurements (cm2) for each
 individual plant included in the study (plantNum) that were used to
 standardize the observations. Floral area was calculated in photoshop
 using a defined pixels/cm metric unique to each photo. This metric was
 caluclated based on a measuring stick included in each photo held at the
 crown of the plant. 
description: The recorded value for each taxa represents the number of
 independent visits to a plant within each group for a 10 minute time
 period. If a visitor visited multiple flowers on one plant, this was
 recorded as a single visit. If the visitor left the observer's plain
 of vision and then returned (so it could not be confirmed that it was the
 same individual), this was multiple visits. Genera/species are abbreviated
 as listed below (upper case here and in data sets). Cultivars are
 similarly abbreviated (in lower case here- upper case in
 datasets).  MAR= Marigold spp. mto =
 'Taishin Orange' mdo = 'Alumia Deep
 Orange' my = 'Alumia Yellow'
 mr = 'Alumia Red' mf = 'Alumia
 Flame' ZIN = Zinnia spp. zsr =
 'Zahara Starlight Rose' zsun = 'Zahara
 Sunburst' zras = 'Zahara
 Raspberry' zred = 'Zahara Red'
 zpc = 'Profusion Cherry' PEN =
 Pentas laceolata pgrl = 'Graffiti Red
 Lace' pgw = 'Graffiti White'
 plav = 'Starcluster Lavender' psw =
 'Starcluster White' psr = 'Starcluster
 Red' LOB = Lobularia maritima
 lebv = 'Easter Bonnet Violet' lsp =
 'Snow Princess' lwdp = 'Wonderland Deep
 Purple' lfk = 'Frosty Knight'
 lcrys = 'Clear Srystal Mix' LAN =
 Lantana camara lrg = 'Rose Glow'
 lsr = 'Sunrise Rose' lps =
 'Peach Sunrise' ly =
 'Yellow' lcit = 'Citrus'
 NA represents a plant that did not have any flowers. A value of 0
 represents a plant in flower that recieved no visitors during the
 observation period. For observations, there are two
 data sets (abundance, diversity) included that differ slightly to maintain
 accuracy. Since the diversity calculation required accurate morphotaxa
 identification to a finer taxonomic level than the proportional and
 overall abundance caluclations did, and we had multiple observers with
 varying levels of field identification experience, we trimmed this data
 set accordingly to ensure that only reliable morphotaxa identifications
 were included. We do not anticipate that these actions changed the
 interpretation of the data.