DOI: 10.5061/dryad.0zpc86753
title: Influence of climate, weather and floral associations on pollinator community composition across an elevational gradient

description: Insect pollinators, which are ectothermic, are especially sensitive to
 abiotic conditions, which often drive predictable patterns of pollinator
 species turnover along environmental gradients. However, pollinator
 activity is also reliant on suitable biotic conditions, such as the
 presence of host plants. High-elevation environments provide a useful
 setting to examine the relative contribution of abiotic and biotic factors
 in shaping species interactions as they are often characterised by strong
 environmental gradients over short geographic distances. Here, we examined
 pollination interaction networks across an elevational gradient from
 930-2000m a.s.l. in southern Australia, to determine the underlying
 patterns of pollinator activity and their interactions with flowers. The
 interaction frequency of Diptera increased at high elevations, while the
 interaction frequency of Hymenoptera and Coleoptera decreased. We provide
 evidence that this elevational pattern of activity is partly driven by
 floral associations, with interactions dominated by Hymenoptera-attracting
 plant families at lower elevations (Proteaceae, Fabaceae) and a
 Diptera-attracting family at high elevations (Asteraceae). Pollinator
 activity was also influenced by weather conditions, with reduced activity
 for all three orders at lower temperatures, and Diptera active across the
 broadest range of temperature, humidity, and wind conditions. We suggest
 that changes across elevation gradients in pollinator community
 composition are driven by both direct responses to abiotic conditions such
 as temperature, as well as the elevational distribution patterns of
 associated flowering plants. Despite these distinct shifts in the
 composition of the pollinator assemblage with elevation, the pollination
 network structure was stable across the elevational gradient, with
 moderate levels of specialisation and low levels of connectance and
 nestedness present across the gradient. By considering both abiotic
 conditions and biotic processes, our results provide insight for
 predicting the impacts of upslope vegetation shifts on pollinator
 communities in the face of climate change.
description: Please see the associated publication for full methods:
 https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.10688
description: # Influence of Climate, Weather and Floral Associations on Pollinator
 Community Composition Across an Elevational Gradient Authors: Joshua M.
 Coates*, Maldwyn J. Evans, Ben C. Scheele, Jaime Florez Fernandez, James
 Lumbers, Saul A. Cunningham *Collected all data. Corresponding author:
 [coates.jc@hotmail.com](mailto:coates.jc@hotmail.com) Related manuscript
 to be published in Oikos, 2024:
 [https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.10688](https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.10688) ###
 Files and variables This folder contains two files:
 "clim.data.xlsx" and "network.data.xlsx"
 **clim.data.xlsx** is the data used in regression and hypervolume
 analysis. Each row is an individual observation of a single
 plant/pollinator interaction, with associated climate/weather predictors
 and metadata. Columns contain predictors used in our modeling (wind,
 temperature, humidity, flower richness, elevation, date, time), as well as
 taxonomic information for plants and insects and metadata columns
 (ObjectID, Unique Sequence ID, CreationDate, Sample number). Insect
 taxonomic information in this file is only accurate to the Order level,
 whereas insect information in network.data.xlsx is accurate to the
 morpho/species level. The data is structured as follows: | Type | Values |
 Column name | Explanation | | :------ | :------------------- |
 :----------------- |
 :---------------------------------------------------------------- | |
 numeric | 1 to 5133 | Unique Sequence ID | Metadata column for the
 purposes of sorting/ordering | | numeric | 0 to 2348 | Object ID |
 Metadata column from Survey123 submission | | text | plant taxa | Plant
 Species | Plant species for plant/pollinator observation | | text | plant
 taxa | Plant Family | Plant family for plant/pollinator observation | |
 numeric | 1 to 243  | Sample number | Sample number of 30 min
 plant/pollinator samples | | text | insect taxa | Initial ID | Initial
 Field ID of insects, to be later confirmed with voucher | | text | insect
 taxa | Insect order | Taxonomic order of insect (Diptera, Hymenoptera,
 Coleoptera etc.) | | numeric | 0 to 23.34  | Wind | Wind speed (km/h)
 during observation period | | numeric | 25 to 27.85   | Temperature |
 Temperature (Degrees C) during observation period | | text | 1000m to
 2000m  | Elevation | Elevation (m a.s.l.) of observation | | date |
 22/10/21 to 26/02/22 | CreationDate | Combined date and time of
 observation | | date | 22/10/21 to 26/02/22 | Date | Date of observation,
 with time removed | | time | 9:06am to 5:21 pm | Time | Time of
 observation, with date removed | **network.data.xlsx** contains many of
 the same properties as clim.data.xls, however it also includes insect data
 at a finer taxonomic resolution (Initial ID, Confirmed ID, Insect Order,
 Insect Family). The spreadsheet includes a tab with data from all sites,
 as well as tabs with data separated into each site individually. This
 spreadsheet was used in bipartite network analysis.  The data is
 structured as follows: | Type | Values | Column name | Explanation | |
 :------ | :------------------- | :------------ |
 :---------------------------------------------------------------- | |
 numeric | 0 to 2348 | Object ID | Metadata column from Survey123
 submission | | text | plant taxa | Plant Species | Plant species for
 plant/pollinator observation | | text | plant taxa | Plant Family | Plant
 family for plant/pollinator observation | | numeric | 1 to 243  | Sample
 number | Sample number of 30 min plant/pollinator samples | | numeric | 0
 to 23.34  | Wind | Wind speed (km/h) during observation period | | numeric
 | 25 to 27.85   | Temperature | Temperature (Degrees C) during observation
 period | | text | 1000m to 2000m  | Elevation | Elevation (m a.s.l.) of
 observation | | date | 22/10/21 to 26/02/22 | CreationDate | Combined date
 and time of observation | | date | 22/10/21 to 26/02/22 | Date | Date of
 observation, with time removed | | time | 9:06am to 5:21 pm | Time |
 Unformatted time of observation, with date removed | | text | insect taxa
 | Initial ID | Initial Field ID of insects, to be later confirmed by
 voucher | | text | insect taxa | Confirmed ID | Confirmed morpho/species
 ID of insects, as confirmed by voucher | | text | insect taxa | Insect
 order | Taxonomic order of insect (Diptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera etc.)
 | | text | insect taxa | Insect family | Taxonomic family of insect |