DOI: 10.5061/dryad.ngf1vhhwp
title: Data: Measuring plant attractiveness to pollinators: methods and considerations

description: Global pollinator declines have fostered increased public interest in
 creating pollinator-friendly gardens in human-managed landscapes. Indeed,
 studies on urban pollinator communities suggest that flower-rich
 greenspaces can serve as promising sites for conservation. Ornamental
 flowers, which are readily available at most commercial garden centers,
 are ubiquitous in these landscapes. These varieties are often non-native
 and highly bred, and their utility to pollinators is complex. In this
 study, we used observational data and citizen science to develop a methods
 framework that will assist stakeholders in the floriculture industry to
 incorporate metrics of pollinator health into existing breeding and
 evaluation protocols. The results of this study support how plant
 attractiveness to pollinators is often dependent on variables such as
 climate and plant phenology, which should be considered when developing an
 assessment tool. Furthermore, we found that some cultivars were
 consistently attractive across all observations while for other cultivars,
 pollinator visitation was apparently conditional. We determine using
 multiple statistical tests that 10 min is a sufficient length of time for
 observation of most plant types to broadly estimate three measures of
 plant attractiveness: visitor abundance, primary visitors attracted, and
 cultivar rank attractiveness, without sacrificing efficiency or accuracy.
 Additionally, we demonstrate that properly trained non-expert observers
 can collect accurate observational data, and our results suggest that
 protocols may be designed to maximize consistency across diverse data
 collectors. 
description: This study includes two different datasets. The first is the
 dataset (<strong>A</strong>) was used to determine the minimum
 amount of time needed to observe a single plant to obtain accurate metrics
 of pollinator visitation. This data was collected by a single individual
 (E. Erickson), who observed a plant in the field for 30 minute increments
 and recorded the time the each individual visitor arrived at that plant
 and the taxonomic order of that visitor. The second dataset
 (<strong>B</strong>) was used to quantify how unique observers
 differed in the flower visitors they recorded on plants. Novice and
 experienced observers were each given unique data sheets that were either
 descriptive (insect morphotaxa) or simple (insect orders). Each observer
 watches a single plant replicate for 10 minutes and all observers observed
 a representative replicate of each cultivar in the study. Separate
 observers were used for the container annual and the in-ground perennial
 trials.  Floral area measures were calculated by first
 photographing each cultivar in birds-eye-view with a meter stick held at
 the crown of the plant and calculating the area in bloom based on user
 defined pixel measurements in Adobe Photoshop  All data
 analyses were conducted in R, and the code is included in this data
 archive.  
description: <strong>Floral_area_MG_B</strong>
 A_P indicates whether the cultivar was a container annual (A) or
 an in-ground perennial (P) Area_inch2 is the calculated
 area of the floral display for each replicate. This value was converted to
 cm2 for the manuscript. This measurement is based on floral area images
 taken on the data of data collection for dataset B. 
 <strong>MG_data_descriptive_B</strong>
 The observer field indicates which unique observer conducted the
 observation. We used letters in place of names to preserve observer
 privacy. All observers given the descriptive data sheets were novice
 observers.  Replicate indicates which of the three
 replicates/cultivar that data corresponds to. Replicate identity was
 unique to the study and indicated using field flags for each data
 collection event. 
 <strong>MG_data_simple_B</strong>
 The observer field indicates which unique observer conducted the
 observation. We used letters in place of names to preserve observer
 privacy. Observer experience is indicated in the
 'ExperienceLevel" column Replicate indicates
 which of the three replicates/cultivar that data corresponds to. Replicate
 identity was unique to the study and indicated using field flags for each
 data collection event. 
 <strong>MDO_data_A</strong>
 Floral_Area_inch2 is the calculated area of the floral display
 for each replicate. This value was converted to cm2 for the manuscript.
 This value is based on images taken on the date of observation. 
 InfloresenceNum is the estimated number of infloresences or
 compound flowers on a single plant at the time of observation and is
 another proxy for floral area. This value was ultimately not used in the
 final analysis.  Replicate indicates which of the six
 replicates/cultivar that data corresponds to. 
 StartTime is the time at which the observation
 commenced Time indicates when, in minutes:seconds from
 the start time, each insect visitor was observed in the 30 minute
 observation period
 <strong>Climate_dataA_B</strong>
 This is the hourly climate data for the dates of the experiment,
 extracted from the Pennsylvania State Climatologist database
 (https://climate.met.psu.edu/).