Seed mix design and floral resources drive multi-trophic interactions in prairie restoration
Data files
Feb 01, 2024 version files 455.82 KB
Abstract
- Ecological restoration often targets plant community recovery, but restoration success may depend on the recovery of a complex web of biotic interactions to maintain biodiversity and promote ecosystem services. Specifically, management that drives resource availability, such as seeding richness and provenance, may alter species interactions across multiple trophic levels. Using experimentally seeded prairies, we examine three key groups – plants, pollinators, and goldenrod crab spiders (Misumena vatia, predators of pollinators) – to understand the effects of species richness and admixture seed sourcing of restoration seed mixtures on multi-trophic interactions.
- Working with prairie plants, we experimentally manipulated seed mix richness and the number of seed source regions (single-source region or admixture seed sourcing). In each experimental prairie, we surveyed floral abundance and richness, pollinator visitation, and plant-M. vatia interactions.
- A high-richness seed mix increased floral abundance when seeds were sourced from a single geographic region, and floral abundance strongly increased pollinator visitation, M. vatia abundance, and prey capture. Seeding richness and admixture seed sourcing of the seed mixture did not affect floral species richness, but floral species richness increased pollinator visitation.
- Pollinators interacted with different floral communities across seeding treatments, indicating a shift in visited floral species with restoration practices.
- Synthesis and applications. Long-term success in prairie restoration requires the restoration of plant-arthropod interactions. We provide evidence that seed mix richness and admixture seed sourcing affect arthropod floral associations, but effective restoration of plant-arthropod interactions should consider total floral resource availability. Incorporating a food web perspective in restoration will strengthen approaches to whole ecosystem restoration.
README: Seed mix design and floral resources drive multi-trophic interactions in prairie restoration
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zpc866tg0
Contact: Katherine Hulting, hultingk@msu.edu
File name: CLE_floral.csv
Each row contains the floral data for one species at one transect per sampling round.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| sampling_round | Sampling round of the survey, each site was surveyed three times |
| collector | Initials of the person that completed the survey |
| time | Start time of the survey. NA = time of survey was not recorded |
| date | Date of the survey, MM/DD/YY |
| site | Unique code for each of the 12 sites |
| transect | Transect number at each site; each site contained four transects labeled 1-4. |
| flower_sp | Species name of flower identification |
| number_plants | Number of individuals of one species counted along the transect |
| avg_1 - avg_10 | Count of flowers on an individual plant. Number of flowers were counted for 10 individuals per species. NA indicates no count, due to less than 10 individuals present on the transect. |
| avg_flowers | Average number of flowers per species per transect, calculated by averaging avg_1 - avg_10. |
| floral_abundance | Floral abundance of one species, calculated by multiplying number_plants * avg_flowers |
File name: CLE_pollinator.csv
Each row is one unique plant-pollinator interaction.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| sampling_round | Sampling round of the survey, each site was surveyed three times |
| researcher | Initials or name of the person that completed the survey |
| date | Date of the survey, MM/DD/YY |
| start_time | Start time of the survey. NA = not recorded for insects collected for later identification. |
| temperature | Air temperature (C) recorded prior to the start of the survey. NA = not recorded for insects collected for later identification. |
| wind_max | Maximum wind speed (km/hr) recorded prior to the start of the survey. NA = not recorded for insects collected for later identification. |
| wind_avg | Average wind speed (km/hr) recorded prior to the start of the survey. NA = not recorded for insects collected for later identification. |
| cloud_cover | Percent cloud cover recorded prior to the start of the survey. NA = not recorded. |
| site | Unique code for each of the 12 sites |
| transect | Transect number at each site; each site contained four transects labeled 1-4. |
| am_pm | Morning (am) or afternoon (pm) survey. NA = not recorded for collected insect. |
| flower_sp | Species name of flower identification that pollinator interacted with |
| unique_ID | Unique ID of pollinator observed |
| pollinator | Species name of pollinator observed |
| pollinator_order | Order name of pollinator observed |
File name: CLE_crabspider.csv
Each row is one goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia) observed at a transect.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| unique_ID | Unique ID of crab spider |
| sampling_round | Sampling round of the survey, each site was surveyed three times |
| date | Date of the survey, MM/DD/YY |
| site | Unique code for each of the 12 sites |
| transect | Transect number at each site; each site contained four transects labeled 1-4. |
| collector | Initials of person that completed the survey |
| prey | Whether the crab spider was observed with a prey item or not, 1 = observed with prey, 0 = observed without prey |
| flower_sp | Species name of flower identification that crab spider was associated with |
File name: CLE_summarized.csv
Each row is one transect at a site, contains summarized data used for analysis from files CLE_floral.csv, CLE_pollinator.csv, and CLE_crabspider.csv.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| site | Unique code for each of the 12 sites |
| transect | Transect number at each site; each site contained four transects labeled 1-4 |
| prey_capture | Number of crab spiders observed with prey at a transect |
| spider_abundance | Number of crab spiders observed at a transect |
| floral_abundance | Cumulative floral abundance (number of open flowers) measured at a transect |
| floral_richness | Number of flower species observed |
| prey_capture_rate | Proportion of crab spiders observed with prey |
| number_interactions | Number of plant-pollinator interactions observed |
| connectance | Plant-pollinator network connectance |
| nestedness | Plant-pollinator network nestedness |
| H2 | Plant-pollinator network H2' |
| niche_overlap | Pollinator niche overlap of plant-pollinator network |
| diversity | Seed mix richness diversity treatment. High = prairie seeded with 71 species, Low = prairie seeded with 12 species. |
| source | Geographic region where seed mix was sourced from. Southern = southern midwest USA, Midwest = northern midwest USA, Local = local to restoration site (Michigan, USA), High = mixture of all source locations |
| source_diversity | Number of regions where seed mix was sourced from, Three = mixture of three regions (southern, midwest, local), One = one source (either southern, midwest, or local) |