Resource availability, competitor abundance and specialization affect competition among bumblebees
Data files
May 16, 2025 version files 15.96 KB
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01-potential_competition_among_bumblebees.csv
14.13 KB
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README.md
1.83 KB
Abstract
The strength of interspecific and intraspecific competition depends on resource availability, competitor abundance, and specialization. Most studies are conducted with single species pairs, constraining our understanding of what drives competition in multispecies communities. We investigated the effect of floral density, competitor abundance, flowering period, and trait specialization (proboscis length) on the potential for interspecific and intraspecific competition between seven common bumblebee species in the Hengduan Mountains of southwest China. We estimated the potential for interspecific and intraspecific competition using resource partitioning indices in plant-bumblebee networks (Müller’s index) over five consecutive years, quantifying changes in floral densities and bumblebee abundance throughout the season. The potential for interspecific competition increased with bumblebee abundance, particularly when floral density was low later in the season. On the other hand, the potential for intraspecific competition increased with abundance of focal bumblebee species and for specialized long-tongued bumblebees, especially when floral density was low. This suggests that resource scarcity regulates species coexistence by limiting abundant species dominance via interspecific competition and intraspecific competition. Our results indicate the importance of intraspecific competition and specialization in maintaining diversity in multispecies communities.
This data package contains data from the publication:
Zhong-Ming Ye, Yong-Deng He, Wen Huang, Xiao-Fang Jin, Pedro J. Bergamo, Chun-Feng Yang (2025) Resource availability, competitor abundance and specialization affect competition among bumblebees. Behavioral Ecology.
The package contains one data file (in *.csv format) that was used in the analyses of the above-mentioned publication.
Note: Our study also utilizes the data available from a previously published dataset (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.25139777.v1), as both studies are based on the same dataset.
A detailed description of this data file is given below.
01-potential competition among bumblebees.csv
Dataset for analyzing potential intraspecific and interspecific competition among bumblebees.
The column headings represent:
"year" = IDs of the five years that were included in the study (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022);
"date" = IDs of census dates included in the five years of the study;
"period" = Community periods, including early, middle, and late stages;
"bom" = Abbreviated names of bumblebee species identities (fri = B. friseanus, lep = B. lepidus, fes = B. festivus, imp = B. impetuosus, sec = B. securus, nob = B. nobilis, min = B. minshanicola);
"interPACPAC" = The potential for interspecific apparent competition via shared plants between bumblebee species;
"intraPACPAC" = The potential for intraspecific apparent competition via shared plants between bumblebee species;
"plant2_den" = Observed floral density on the census date;
"tongue_len_acting" = Proboscis length of bumblebee species (mm);
"effective_abund" = Estimated abundance of bumblebee species on the census date