Data from: Trait-driven spillover of pollinators across forest-soybean edges
Description
Study sites and pollinator samplings Samplings were conducted from December 2010 to January 2011 in Córdoba, central Argentina. A total of nine circular landscapes (500 m in diameter, hereafter referred to as sites) was chosen, focusing on sites that covered a gradient of forest coverage proportion (from 0.05 to 0.79), with the unforested area occupied mainly by soybean crops. Within each site, pollinators were sampled at six locations: forest interior (at 25 m into the forest from the edge), forest edge (at the first 5 m into the forest from the edge), and within soybean crops at 5, 25, 50, and 100 m from the forest edge. At each location, one yellow pan trap (34 cm diameter and 9 cm depth) was placed at the ground level to collect pollinators. Traps were active for 72 hours in two periods, coinciding with two phenological phases of soybean: late vegetative/early flowering and mass-blooming. After the collecting periods, trap contents were filtered and kept in plastic cups containing 70% ethanol. Flower-visiting hymenopterans (i.e., Apoidea, Vespoidea) were separated for further identification. Species were identified using keys, reference collections, and expert IDs from iNaturalist. In some cases, specimens were identified at the genus or morphospecies level. Ants (Formicidae) and other flightless hymenopterans were excluded from the analysis due to their limited representation and poor role as pollinators. Pollinator life-history traits We obtained information on eight life-history traits widely recognized in hymenopterans for their relevance in pollination ecology and their potential responsiveness to landscape transformation. For dispersal ability, we measured (1) Community Weighted Mean (CWM) of forewing length from the tegula to the wing apex as a proxy for body size. Regarding life cycle, we included three traits: (2) social behavior, categorized as social or solitary; and (3) cleptoparasitism. For nesting, we included two traits: (4) nesting mode, categorized into nest builders (species that build their own nest), users of nests made by other insects, and users of pre-existing cavities; and (5) nesting location, categorized as below-ground nests (subterranean or endogeic), above-ground (epigeic), or both. In terms of feeding, we included four traits: (6) main food resource of the larvae, categorized as entomophagous (predators, parasitoids, cleptoparasites) or phytophagous (nectar and pollen feeders); (7) flower diet type, categorized as specialist or generalist, with specialists feeding on a specific family or genus of plants for pollen, although they may visit other plants for nectar, while generalist bees collect pollen from a wide variety of plant sources; and (8) soybean pollinators, categorized as soybean visitors (insects previously recorded as visitors of soybean flowers) or non-soybean visitors (insects not recorded visiting soybean).