DOI: 10.5061/dryad.5dv41nshm
title: Data and analyses for: Localised patterns of wild bee abundance indicate woodlands play multiple roles in supporting farmland populations

description: Higher woodland cover has been linked to increased wild bee abundance and
 diversity in temperate agricultural landscapes. However, our understanding
 of the roles played by the upper and lower strata of woodlands in
 supporting on-farm bees throughout the season is lacking. To explore these
 roles, we sampled bees (Anthophila) in deciduous woodland canopies and
 understories, and in an open habitat (at field margins), from May to July,
 at 12 sites across agricultural landscapes in Norfolk, England. Before
 canopy closure in late spring, relative abundance in the two woodland
 habitats was generally higher, and canopies with flowering Acer
 pseudoplatanus L. supported more bees. However, throughout the season,
 open-habitat bee abundance was consistently higher closer to woodlands.
 After canopy closure, more open areas within woodlands were linked to
 greater bee abundance, except during a spike in temperatures when
 understory relative abundance was also at its highest. These results
 indicate that deciduous woods on farmland provide floral resources to bees
 before canopy closure, which can be augmented with nectar-producing canopy
 trees. They also indicate that more open woodlands likely extend the
 availability of understory floral resources; and that farmland woods,
 regardless of management, may continue to provide non-floral resources –
 including respite from hot weather – throughout the season.
description: # Data and analyses for: Localised patterns of wild bee abundance indicate
 woodlands play multiple roles in supporting farmland populations Dataset
 DOI: [10.5061/dryad.5dv41nshm](10.5061/dryad.5dv41nshm) ## Description of
 the data and file structure ### Files and variables #### File:
 Complete\_analyses\_-\_Allen\_et\_al\_2025.Rmd **Description:** R code to
 run all analyses presented in manuscript. #### File:
 First\_season\_data1.csv **Description:** All data contributing to the
 main analyses presented in the manuscript (Models 1 - 13 in Table 2). For
 further details on variables, see Methods and Table 1 in the manuscript.
 Empty cells indicate that the variable is not applicable to the
 observation in question (except in rows 327 and 404 where they indicate
 that the observation is missing because of trap failure). ##### Variables
 * period: sampling period (I = 'Early May', II = 'Late
 May', III = 'Mid-June', IV = 'Mid-July') * trap:
 trap location ID * lat: latitude * long: longitude * tot_bees: total bees
 caught in a trap * und_bees: total bees caught in an understory trap *
 region: sampling region (1 = 'West', 2 = 'South-east')
 * site: sampling site ID * habitat: sampled habitats ('open',
 'understory' and 'canopy'; note, 'open' =
 field margin) * dist_wood: distance to woodland (near = '60 m',
 far = '120 m') * dist_clear: distance to nearest clearing (m) *
 dist_edge: distance to nearest woodland edge (m) * can_open: canopy
 openness (%) * flora: floral index (floral cover at trap location) *
 syc_si_pr: Sycamore trees (*Acer pseudoplatanus) *(present or absent) *
 ches_si_pr: Chestnut trees (*Castanea sativa*) (present or absent) ####
 File: Relative\_open\_-\_canopy\_estimates\_all\_bees.csv
 **Description:** Extracted model estimates for the correlation analysis
 (from models 1 - 4 in Table 2; question 2 in manuscript) ##### Variables *
 period: sampling period (I = 'Early May', II = 'Late
 May', III = 'Mid-June', IV = 'Mid-July') *
 region: sampling region (1 = 'West', 2 = 'South-east')
 * open: field margin estimate relative to understory estimate *
 canopy: canopy estimate relative to understory estimate * open_low: lower
 confidence interval limit for 'open' * open_upp: upper
 confidence interval limit for 'open' * cano_low: lower
 confidence interval limit for 'canopy' * cano_upp: upper
 confidence interval limit for 'canopy' * temp: average
 temperature over full sampling days (degrees Celsius) #### File:
 Site\_coverage\_of\_tree\_species.csv **Description:** Woodland canopy
 coverage (presented in Figure 1 of manuscript). ##### Variables * Site:
 sampling site ID * Sycamore: canopy coverage (%) of *Acer pseudoplatanus*
 * Chesnut: canopy coverage (%) of *Castanea sativa* * Oak: canopy coverage
 (%) of *Quercus robur/petraea* * Ash: canopy coverage (%) of *Fraxinus
 excelsior* * Beech: canopy coverage (%) of *Fagus sylvatica* * Other:
 canopy coverage (%) other tree species * Canopy gap: canopy gap (%) ####
 File: Floral\_indices\_by\_family.csv **Description:** Floral index of
 each plant family (summarised in figure S1; further details on methodology
 provided in Appendix S1). ##### Variables * period: sampling period (I =
 'Early May', II = 'Late May', III =
 'Mid-June', IV = 'Mid-July') * trap: trap location ID
 * habitat: sampled habitats ('open', 'understory' and
 'canopy'; note, 'open' = field margin) * flora: total
 floral index (floral cover at trap location [sum of floral indices across
 all plant families]) * Lamiaceae: floral index of Lamiaceae *
 Rosaceae: floral index of Rosaceae * Liliaceae: floral index
 of *Hyacinthoides non-scripta *and *Allium ursinum* (now classified as
 different families) * Caryophyllaceae: floral index of Caryophyllaceae *
 Asteraceae: floral index of Asteraceae * Apiaceae: floral index
 of Apiaceae * Brassicaceae: floral index of Brassicaceae *
 Ericaceae: floral index of Ericaceae * Plantaginaceae: floral index
 of Plantaginaceae * Fabaceae: floral index of Fabaceae *
 Geraniaceae: floral index of Geraniaceae * Boraginaceae: floral index
 of Boraginaceae * Ranunculaceae: floral index of Ranunculaceae *
 Adoxaceae: floral index of Adoxaceae * Orchidaceae: floral index
 of Orchidaceae * Cucurbitaceae: floral index of Cucurbitaceae *
 Cornaceae: floral index of Cornaceae * Convolvulaceae: floral index
 of Convolvulaceae * Fagaceae: floral index of Fagaceae *
 Onagraceae: floral index of Onagraceae * Hypericaceae: floral index
 of Hypericaceae ## Code/software The script is formatted for R Markdown in
 R studio (R version 4.3.2). Annotations are provided throughout the script
 which cover library loading; dataset loading and cleaning; analyses
 (including diagnostics); and figure creation. This script performs all the
 analyses presented in "Localised patterns of wild bee abundance
 indicate woodlands play multiple roles in supporting farmland
 populations".