Data from: Against the odds: Nesting specialisation and foraging ecology provide insights into climate change responses in a mountain bee
Data files
May 12, 2026 version files 1.02 MB
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Foraging_distance_shared.xlsx
31.67 KB
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nests_shared.xlsx
12.28 KB
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README.md
7.27 KB
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Temperature_shared.xlsx
966.75 KB
Abstract
Climate change is rapidly altering temperature regimes in mountain environments, reshaping the distribution and activity of pollinators. Studies of insect pollinator assemblages in mountains show a general pattern of decreasing bee (Apoidea) activity with increasing elevation. Here we report a unique Exoneura bee that counters this trend and thrives in cold, high elevation (~1500-1900m a.s.l.) woodlands at the tree line. Whereas other members of the genus at lower elevation nest in narrow pithy or hollow plant stems, this bee has a unique nesting biology, burrowing into the dead branches of the only tree in Australia’s subalpine zone (snow gum, Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. niphophila). Using a combination of observational surveys, spatial mapping, temperature tolerance tests, and biophysical modelling, we investigated various aspects of the bee’s ecology. We found that this species’ nest abundance peaked at the tree line (approx. 1900 m a.s.l). Foraging behaviour was highly dependent on the presence of snow gums for nesting, with activity concentrated within 30m of snow gum stands. Biophysical modelling showed that the daily and annual foraging activity window was significantly limited by temperature, and that it will substantially increase under climate change projections. This study reveals several unique traits of a new bee species that shows a close association with snow gums, providing insights into its flourishing in the changing conditions of subalpine Australia’s high-elevation environments.
Authors: Joshua M. Coates*, Noel Takeshima, Francisco Encinas-Viso, Saul A. Cunningham
*Collected all data.
Corresponding author: coates.jc@hotmail.com
Related manuscript: ICDIV-25-0252.R2
Files and variables
This dataset includes three spreadsheets:
Temperature_shared.xlsxnests_shared.xlsxForaging_distance_shared.xlsx
Each dataset captures a different aspect of the ecology of a high-elevation, cavity-nesting Exoneura bee in the Australian Alps, including its foraging activity, nesting abundance, and foraging distances.
temperature_shared.xlsx
Each row corresponds to a 5-minute observation period at a single nest entrance. Data includes local microclimate, site information, and multiple categories of bee activity. Missing values in the bee activity columns have been replaced with "N/A".
| Type | Example values | Column name | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| datetime | 19/11/2022 12:02 | Date - Time | Combined date-time of observation |
| date | 19/11/2022 | DateNonJulian | Date of observation |
| numeric | 323.00 | Julian Date | Day of year |
| time | 12:02:00 | Time | Time of observation start (24-hour) |
| numeric | 13, 14, 13.5 | Temp A, Temp B, Temperature | Ambient temperatures (°C); two loggers, which were averaged for analysis |
| text | CP | Site | Site abbreviation. CP=Charlotte Pass, PT = Perisher |
| text | CP1A | NestID | Unique identifier for nest cavity |
| numeric | 0–10+ | Stirring, Departing, Foraging, Returning, Hovering | Counts of different bee activities |
| binary | 0/1 | First emergence | Whether this was the first emergence for the day at this nest |
| numeric | 0–10+ | Foraging, but multiple bees... | Cases where trip identity was ambiguous |
| numeric | 0–30+ | ActivityNests, ActivityAll | Aggregated activity metrics |
nests_shared.xlsx
Each row represents a single tree branch surveyed for nest presence. Includes metadata on elevation, plot, and side of road.
| Type | Example values | Column name | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| numeric | 1 | ObjectID | Unique row identifier | |
| datetime | 26/01/2023 4:41 | CreationDate | Date-time of data entry | |
| text | 15–16 | Elevation bins | Elevation bin category (e.g., 1500–1600 m) | |
| numeric | 1591, 1586 | Elevation, Elevation actual | Reported and GPS-measured elevation (m a.s.l.) | |
| numeric | 2 | Nests | Number of Exoneura nests per branch | |
| text | #1 | Plot # | Plot identifier | |
| text | Right | Side of road | Side of transect road (for spatial replication) | |
| date | 26/01/2023 | Date | Date of observation | |
| time | 14:07 | Time | Time of survey |
foraging_distance_shared.xlsx
Each row represents a mapped floral patch and includes estimated overlap with foraging ranges from nests at increasing distances (10–100 m radii). It also records plant visitation and environmental data.
| Type | Example values | Column name | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| numeric | 1 | ObjectID | Row identifier |
| datetime | 13/01/2023 13:58 | Date | Date of floral observation or plot mapping |
| numeric | 1 | Plot | Numeric plot number |
| text | 1n | PlotID | Unique plot code |
| text | Near | Distance | Distance category from nest (e.g., Near, Far) |
| numeric | 1 | DistanceNumeric | Numeric distance from nest |
| numeric | 180.53–13391.31 | X m M² overlap | Total m² of overlapping canopy area at each buffer distance (10–100 m) |
| numeric | 42.7–58.9 | Percent_overlap_[buffer] | Percent of the plot overlapped by canopy at each buffer |
| numeric | 14 | Quantity | Number of bees observed visiting plants in this plot |
| datetime | 10/01/2023 2:22 | DateTime | Timestamp of environmental logger reading or plot setup |
| date | 10/01/2023 | Date | Date of environmental recording |
| time | 1:22 PM | Time | Time of environmental recording |
| numeric | 148.3220004 | x | Longitude (decimal degrees, WGS84) |
| numeric | -36.43436174 | y | Latitude (decimal degrees, WGS84) |
The following R packages were used in the analyses associated with this dataset, as detailed in the methods section of the paper:
readxl, dplyr, MASS, performance, ggplot2, glmmTMB, lubridate, sjPlot, effects, moments, mgcv, NicheMapR, microclima, tidyr, patchwork, MuMIn, AICcmodavg