DOI: 10.5061/dryad.905qftv0v
title: Data for: Pollinators maintain biodiversity in assembling plant communities

description: We did an experiment testing the effect of three levels of pollinator
 visitation on all forb flowers in plant communities of a prairie
 restoration. These pollination treatments were a pollinator exclusion
 treatment, an augmented pollination treatment, or a control, and were
 carried out within plots of different graminoid/forb seed ratios. The
 split plot design consisted of 11 different graminoid/forb ratios applied
 to 55 whole plots, and the pollination treatments were carried out in
 subplots within each whole plot. We sampled seed heads of 8 common
 animal-pollinated forbs to compare excluded vs. controls on number of
 germinants in the seed rain in 2021 and 2022. We sampled plant diversity
 within the subplots at the quadrat and subplot scale in 2023. Pollinator
 exclusion treatments resulted in 50% less germinants from the seed rain,
 23% lower plant species richness, and 27% lower animal-pollinated forb
 richness. Also, the positive relationship between forb abundance and plant
 richness seen in augmented and control subplots was eliminated with
 pollinator exclusion. These results suggest that pollinator decline may be
 leading to a plant-pollinator extinction vortex. This study suggests, for
 the first time we are aware of, that plant biodiversity at the community
 level can be limited by animal pollinators.
description: # Data for: Pollinators maintain biodiversity in assembling plant
 communities Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.905qftv0v](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.905qftv0v) ##
 Description of the data and file structure Data from: Pollinators maintain
 biodiversity in assembling plant communities ### Files and variables ####
 File: SoleyWilsey_pollinatorsMaintain1.csv **Description:** The number of
 seeds and germinants from 8 common forb species between controls and
 pollinator exclusion treatments. ##### Variables * Plot: The plot
 identity. * Treat: pollination treatment (pollinator exclusion or control)
 * Sp: Forb species identity * Seed_count: The number of seeds sampled. *
 Germinants_total: The number of germinants per sample, our estimate of
 seed viability. #### File: SoleyWilsey_pollinatorsMaintain2.csv
 **Description:** The number of hits on seeded and volunteer plant species
 within a quadrat using a point intercept method, total hits on forbs,
 number of plant species in quadrats, and number of plant species outside
 the quadrat within pollination treatment subplots of different
 graminoid/forb seed ratio whole plots. ##### Variables * Plot: The plot
 identity * pGrass: Graminoid/forb seed ratio, expressed as percent
 graminoids in the seed mix * Rep: 5 replicates of each graminoid/forb seed
 ratio. * Treat: Pollination treatment (Pollinator exclusion, Augmented
 pollination, or Control). * Spoint25: Plant species richness at quadrat
 scale * SAforbs: Animal-pollinated species richness at quadrat scale *
 Extended: Plant species richness outside the quadrat within the subplot *
 SAforbs_Ext: Animal-pollinated species richness outside the quadrat within
 the subplot * eShannons: Shannons diversity within the quadrat * S_sub:
 Plant species richness of the subplot * SAforbs_sub: Animal-pollinated
 species richness of the subplot * Tforbs: Total hits on forbs * And_ger:
 Andropogon gerardii * Bou_cur: Bouteloua curtipendula * Car_vul: Carex
 vulpinoidea * Ely_can: Elymus canadensis * Koe_mac: Koeleria macrantha *
 Pan_vir: Panicum virgatum * Schizscop: Schizachyrium scoparius * Sorgnut:
 Sorghastrum nutans * Sporcomp: Sporobolus compositus * Sporhet: Sporobolus
 heterolepis * Amocan: Amorpha canescens * Astrcan: Astragalus canadensis *
 Baptalba: Baptisia alba * Dalcand: Dalea candida * Dalpurp: Dalea purpurea
 * Rudsub: Reudbeckia subtomentosa * Desmcan: Desmodium canadense *
 Lespcap: Lespedeza capitata * AllUrs: Allium canadense * Anemcan: Anemone
 canadensis * Artludo: Artemisia ludoviciana * Asclincarn: Asclepias
 incarnata * Asclsyr: Asclepias syriaca * Ascltub: Asclepias tuberosa *
 Arnoplant: Arnoglossum plantaginea * Corepalm: Coreopsis palmata *
 Echpall: Echinacea pallida * Erynyuca: Eryngium yuccifolium * Gentandr:
 Gentiana andrewsii * Gentalba: Gentiana flavida * Heligross: Helianthus
 grosseserratus * Helirig: Helianthus rigidus * Heliophel: Heliopsis
 helianthoides * Liatrasp: Liatris aspera * Liatrpycn: Liatris pycnostachya
 * Lobsiph: Lobelia siphilitica * Monfist: Monarda fistulosa * Solidrig:
 Solidago rigidus * Penstdig: Pentemon digitalis * Phloxpil: Phlox pilosa *
 Potarg: Potentilla arguta * Pycnvirg: Pycnathemum virginianum * Ratpinn:
 Ratibida pinnata * Rosaark: Rosa arkansana * Rudbhirt: Rudbeckia hirta *
 Silphlac: Silphium laciniatum * Solidnem: Solidago nemoralis * Solidspec:
 Solidago speciosa * Sympheri: Symphyotrichum ericoides * Symphlae:
 Symphyotrichum laeve * Symphnov: Symphyotrichum novae-angliae * Symphser:
 Symphiotrichum sericeum * Thaldasy: Thalictrum dasycarpum * Tradohio:
 Tradescantia ohioensis * Verbstrict: Verbena stricta * Veronvirg:
 Vernonicastrum virginicum * Vernofas: Vernonia fasciculata * Ziziaaur:
 Zizia aurea * SetariaVir: Setaria viridis * Taroffic: Taraxacum officinale
 * Poaprat: Poa pratensis * Trifrep: Trifolium repens * Ambart: Ambrosia
 artemisiifolia * Triprat: Trifolium pratense * Brominerm: Bromus inermus *
 SolGig: Solidago gigantea * Plantago major: Plantago major * Symphpil:
 Symphyotrichum pilosa * CirArv: Cirsium arvense * Sonchus: Sonchus
 arvensis * Mel alb: Melilotus alba * FestArund: Festuca arundinaceum *
 OxalStr: Oxalis stricta * AmbTri: Ambrosia trifida * ElymRep: Elymus
 repens * ErigCan: Erigeron canadensis * AscVer: Asclepias verticillata *
 AbuTheo: Abutilon theophrasti * PhysHet: Physalis heterophylla * LactCan:
 Latuca canadensis * SetPum: Setaria pumila * LactSer: Lactuca serriola *
 Erigeron annuus: Erigeron anuus * CirsVul: Cirsium vulgare * Bind:
 Convulvus arvensis * MedLup: Medicago lupulina * SolCan: Solidago
 canadensis * MelOff: Melilotus officinalis * PhysLong: Physalis longifolia
 ## Code/software R 4.4 can be used to view the data and analyze it. The R
 packages used to analyze the data were 'lme4,' 'lmer,'
 'emmeans,' and 'car.' Please see 'Access
 information' for a link to the R and SAS code utilized to analyze the
 data. ## Access information Other publicly accessible locations of the
 data: *
 [https://github.com/NathanSoley/Pollinators-maintain-diversity.git](https://github.com/NathanSoley/Pollinators-maintain-diversity.git)