DOI: 10.5061/dryad.tht76hfb5
title: Interaction networks of nectar-feeding bats and plants in central Mexico

description: We used metabarcoding to identify plant taxa present in pollen from fur
 and faecal samples collected across 1 year from three nectar‐feeding bat
 roosts in central Mexico. We calculated the presence/absence of plant taxa
 in pollen and faecal samples collected from each bat individual in each
 month sampled and used these data to create a weighted adjacency matrix
 showing the summed interactions between bat species and plant taxa. We
 constructed bipartite interaction matrices, consisting of a year‐long
 network, encompassing the entire period of sampling, two seasonal networks
 comprising the wet and dry seasons, and six individual networks from
 sampling at two‐month intervals across the year. Across the year, four
 species of nectar-feeding bats interacted with 36 plant species from 16
 families.  Here we provide the year-long, dry season, wet season,
 and bi-monthly interaction networks (February, April, June, August,
 October, December). The dry season months were considered February, April,
 and December. The wet season months were considered June, August, and
 October.
description: # Interaction networks of nectar-feeding bats and plants in central Mexico
 Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.tht76hfb5](10.5061/dryad.tht76hfb5) ##
 Description of the data and file structure This data was published in:
 Tremlett, C.J., Chapman, M., Maher, K.H., Keller, A., Blüthgen, N., Peh,
 K.S.H. and Zamora‐Gutierrez, V., 2024. High resource overlap and a
 consistently generalised pattern of interactions in a bat–flower network
 in a seasonally dry landscape. *Ecology and Evolution*, *14*(10),
 p.e70367.   
 [https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70367](https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70367)
 Pollination is an ecosystem process that is crucial to maintain
 biodiversity and ecosystem function. Bats are important pollinators in the
 tropics and are an integral part of complex plant–pollinator interaction
 networks. However, network analysis–based approaches are still scarce at
 the plant species and bat community levels. We captured bats returning to
 the roost from feeding (numbers captured depended on activity) and
 collected samples of pollen from the head, chest and wings of captured
 bats. Sampling was conducted at three bat roosts (Atoyac 19.99174,
 −103.50488; San Cayetano 20.13014, −103.5658; Cueva del Ermitaño 20.0812,
 −103.5965) in the Sayula Basin, Jalisco, in central Mexico. We visited the
 three roosts every 2 months from April 2017 to February 2018, making a
 total of six sampling trips. We used metabarcoding to identify plant taxa
 present in pollen from fur and faecal samples collected across 1 year from
 three nectar-feeding bat roosts in central Mexico. We calculated the
 frequency of occurrence of plant taxa and assembled a zoocentric network
 of bat–plant interactions (i.e., bipartite interaction matrices). We
 constructed a year-long network, encompassing the entire period of
 sampling, two seasonal networks comprising the wet and dry seasons, and
 six individual networks from sampling at two-month intervals across the
 year. We used these interaction networks to calculate three network-level
 metrics, focussing on quantitative indices, which have been found to be
 less sensitive to sampling intensity and network size: H2', linkage
 density and niche overlap. To assess the role of the bat pollinators
 within networks, we also calculated the discrimination/selectivity index
 d’ for each bat species, which measures how selective a flower visitor is
 relative to the abundance of available resources. ### Files and variables
 #### File: Interaction\_network\_april.csv **Description:**  We calculated
 the presence/absence of plant taxa in pollen and faecal samples collected
 from each bat individual captured in April and used these data to create a
 weighted adjacency matrix showing the summed interactions between bat
 species and plant taxa. ##### Variables * plant_species: * Leptonycteris
 yerbabuenae: * Choeronycteris mexicana: #### File:
 Interaction\_network\_august.csv **Description:**  We calculated the
 presence/absence of plant taxa in pollen and faecal samples collected from
 each bat individual captured in August and used these data to create a
 weighted adjacency matrix showing the summed interactions between bat
 species and plant taxa. ##### Variables * plant_species: * Leptonycteris
 yerbabuenae: #### File: Interaction\_network\_december.csv
 **Description:**  We calculated the presence/absence of plant taxa in
 pollen and faecal samples collected from each bat individual captured in
 December and used these data to create a weighted adjacency matrix showing
 the summed interactions between bat species and plant taxa. #####
 Variables * plant_species: * Leptonycteris nivalis: * Leptonycteris
 yerbabuenae: * Choeronycteris mexicana: #### File:
 Interaction\_network\_dry.csv **Description:**  We calculated the
 presence/absence of plant taxa in pollen and faecal samples collected from
 each bat individual captured in the dry season (December, February, April)
 and used these data to create a weighted adjacency matrix showing the
 summed interactions between bat species and plant taxa. ##### Variables *
 plant_species: * Leptonycteris yerbabuenae: * Choeronycteris mexicana: *
 Leptonycteris nivalis: #### File: Interaction\_network\_february.csv
 **Description:**  We calculated the presence/absence of plant taxa in
 pollen and faecal samples collected from each bat individual captured in
 February and used these data to create a weighted adjacency matrix showing
 the summed interactions between bat species and plant taxa. #####
 Variables * plant_species: * Leptonycteris yerbabuenae: * Leptonycteris
 nivalis: * Choeronycteris mexicana: #### File:
 Interaction\_network\_june.csv **Description:**  We calculated the
 presence/absence of plant taxa in pollen and faecal samples collected from
 each bat individual captured in June and used these data to create a
 weighted adjacency matrix showing the summed interactions between bat
 species and plant taxa. ##### Variables * plant_species: * Leptonycteris
 yerbabuenae: * Choeronycteris mexicana: * Anoura geoffroyi: #### File:
 Interaction\_network\_october.csv **Description:**  We calculated the
 presence/absence of plant taxa in pollen and faecal samples collected from
 each bat individual captured in October and used these data to create a
 weighted adjacency matrix showing the summed interactions between bat
 species and plant taxa. ##### Variables * plant_species: * Anoura
 geoffroyi: * Leptonycteris yerbabuenae: * Choeronycteris mexicana: ####
 File: Interaction\_network\_wet.csv **Description:**  We calculated the
 presence/absence of plant taxa in pollen and faecal samples collected from
 each bat individual captured in the wet season (June, August, October) and
 used these data to create a weighted adjacency matrix showing the summed
 interactions between bat species and plant taxa. ##### Variables *
 plant_species: * Leptonycteris yerbabuenae: * Choeronycteris mexicana: *
 Anoura geoffroyi: #### File: Interaction\_network\_complete.csv
 **Description:**  We calculated the presence/absence of plant taxa in
 pollen and faecal samples collected from each bat individual captured
 across the whole year and used these data to create a weighted adjacency
 matrix showing the summed interactions between bat species and plant taxa.
 ##### Variables * plant_species: * Leptonycteris yerbabuenae: *
 Choeronycteris mexicana: * Anoura geoffroyi: * Leptonycteris nivalis: