Description of the data and file structure

The dataset contains 5 CSV files with the data in the Varnava et al. 2023 paper on "Assessing the biodiversity and the impact of pollinators on carob production "

insect_presence_DRYAD

The dataset contains data on the presence (1) or absence (0) of Apis mellifera, wild bees and wasps. The experiment was carried out in three regions in 2016 (S_Plateau, NW_Coast and S. Coast), with two of the regions (S_Plateau and NW_Coast) sampled again in 2017. In each region, four carob groves (plots) were selected, and within each plot insects visiting flowers were recorded on four female and one male carob trees. For each tree, observations were made on each of four sides (N,S,E,W) for 2 minutes per side. The presence of insects belonging to the following groups, A. mellifera, Wild_bees, Wasps, were recorded with 1 signifying the presence of at least one individual of the group and 0 no presence. The dataset can also be used for estimating the probability of sighting of each group at any sampling point for each year (Fig. 2). The dataframe contains the following variables:

• Date: Sampling date
• Week: Week of sampling beginning from the first week of flowering
• Region: Where the plot was located
• Plot: Number of the plot
• Tree: Number of the tree
• Tree_Side: Side of the tree where sampling took place: 1=south, 2=west, 3=north and 4=east.
• Tree_Sex: Male or female
• Apis_mellifera: 0 if absent, 1 if present (at least one individual)
• Wild_bees: 0 if absent, 1 if present (at least one individual)
• Wasps_total:0 if absent, 1 if present (at least one individual)

pod_number_analysis

The pod_number_analysis dataset contains the data on the production of pods from groups of inflorescences in the open and wind pollination treatments. The experiment was carried out in three different regions, with one carob grove per region, with 20 trees per carob grove. In each tree, there were two branches, with one open and one wind pollination treatment per branch.

The variables of the dataframe are as follows:

• Region: The region of the carob grove.
• Tree_no: The number of the individual tree in each orchard
• Branch: The number of the two branches per tree on which the wind and open pollination treatments were applied - each treatment was applied on both branches (for reach branch, 1 group of inflorescences bagged = wind pollination, and one group of inflorescences left free = open pollination).
• Treatment: The assigned treatment - wind or open pollination.
• inter_R_T: A new variable created to ease the use of tree as a random effect variable as trees in different regions had the same number, which would make the software think that these were the same trees.
• Inflorescences_no_beg: The number of inflorescences assigned to each treatment per branch.
  Pods_no: The number of pods produced by all inflorescences in a group.

pods_weight_data_DRYAD

The dataset contains data on the number, weight and length of seeds per pod produced from carob trees in the open and wind-pollination treatments. The experiment was carried out in three different regions, with one carob grove per region, with 20 trees per orchard. In each tree, there were two branches, with one open and one wind-pollination treatment per branch. The data were derived from teh same experiment as the ones contained in the dataframe "pod_number analysis". However, some trees did not produce pods, and therefore the number of trees in the "pod_weight_data_DRYAD" dataset is lower than 20.

The variables of the dataframe are as follows:

• Region: The region of the grove.
• Tree_no: The number of the individual tree in each grove.
• Branch: The two branches per tree on which the wind and open pollination treatments were applied - each treatment was applied on both branches.
• Treatment: The assigned treatment - open or wind-pollination
• pod_weight_gr: The weight of each individual pod in gr
• pod_length_cm: The length of each individual pod in cm
• seeds_per_pod: The number of seeds produced per pod
• Inter_R_Tree: Variable created to assign an individual label to each tree
• Inter_R_Tree_B: Variable created to assign an individual label to each branch
• Inter_mesh_bag: Variable created to assign an individual label to each inflorescence group

pollen_trans_DRYAD

The dataset contains the results of an experiment on pollen transfer via wind. Glycerol traps were placed on one male and four female trees, with four traps per tree. The distance of each female tree from the male was recorded. 24 h later, the traps were collected and the presence of pollen was recorded.

• Date_in: Date of trap placement
• Date_out: Date of trap removal
• Tree_no: Tree number (1-5)
• Tree_sex: Male or Female
• glycerol_trap_no: Individual trap number
• Pollen_presence: 0 if absent, 1 if present
• Distance_m: Distance in meters of the female tree from the male tree (set to 0 for male tree).

heatmap_DRYAD

The dataset contains data on the species of wild bees and wasps recorded from each carob grove. The data were collected over five weekly visits to each carob grove per year during blooming. The dataset contains the following variables:

• Species: Each of the 14 species of wild bees / wasps that were recorded during the study.
• One column for each carob grove and sampling year (resulting in a total of 21 carob_grove_year columns). For each carob_grove_year column, the integer value shows the number of weeks (out of a total of five) each insect species was recorded as present in each grove.

Sharing/Access information

The data are available through Dryad.