EuPPollNet : A European Database of Plant-Pollinator Networks

Summary, in English

Motivation: Pollinators play a crucial role in maintaining Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. However, rapid human-induced environmental changes are compromising the long-term persistence of plant-pollinator interactions. Unfortunately, we lack robust, generalisable data capturing how plant-pollinator communities are structured across space and time. Here, we present the EuPPollNet (European Plant-Pollinator Networks) database, a fully open European-level database containing harmonised taxonomic data on plant-pollinator interactions referenced in both space and time, along with other ecological variables of interest. In addition, we evaluate the taxonomic and sampling coverage of EuPPollNet, and summarise key structural properties in plant-pollinator networks. We believe EuPPollNet will stimulate research to address data gaps in plant-pollinator interactions and guide future efforts in conservation planning. Main Types of Variables Included: EuPPollNet contains 1,162,109 interactions between plants and pollinators from 1864 distinct networks, which belong to 52 different studies distributed across 23 European countries. Information about sampling methodology, habitat type, biogeographic region and additional taxonomic rank information (i.e. order, family, genus and species) is also provided. Spatial Location and Grain: The database contains 1214 different sampling locations from 13 different natural and anthropogenic habitats that fall in 7 different biogeographic regions. All records are geo-referenced and presented in the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84). Time Period and Grain: Species interaction data was collected between 2004 and 2021. Major Taxa and Level of Measurement: The database contains interaction data at the species level for 94% of the records, including a total of 1411 plant and 2223 pollinator species. The database includes data on 6% of the European species of flowering plants, 34% of bees, 26% of butterflies and 33% of syrphid species at the European level. Software Format: The database was built with R and is stored in ‘.rds’ and ‘.csv’ formats. Its construction is fully reproducible and can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14747448.

• Author: Jose B. Lanuza; Tiffany M. Knight; Nerea Montes-Perez; Will Glenny; Paola Acuña; Matthias Albrecht; Maddi Artamendi; Isabelle Badenhausser; Joanne M. Bennett; Paolo Biella; Ricardo Bommarco; Andree Cappellari; Sílvia Castro; Yann Clough; Pau Colom; Joana Costa; Nathan Cyrille; Natasha de Manincor; Paula Dominguez-Lapido; Christophe Dominik; Yoko L. Dupont; Reinart Feldmann; Emeline Felten; Victoria Ferrero; William Fiordaliso; Alessandro Fisogni; Úna Fitzpatrick; Marta Galloni; Hugo Gaspar; Elena Gazzea; Irina Goia; Carmelo Gómez-Martínez; Miguel A. González-Estévez; Juan Pedro González-Varo; Ingo Grass; Jiří Hadrava; Nina Hautekèete; Veronica Hederström; Ruben Heleno; Sandra Hervias-Parejo; Jonna M. Heuschele; Bernhard Hoiss; Andrea Holzschuh; Sebastian Hopfenmüller; José M. Iriondo; Birgit Jauker; Frank Jauker; Jana Jersáková; Katharina Kallnik; Reet Karise; David Kleijn; Stefan Klotz; Theresia Krausl; Elisabeth Kühn; Carlos Lara-Romero; Michelle Larkin; Emilien Laurent; Amparo Lázaro; Felipe Librán-Embid; Yicong Liu; Sara Lopes; Francisco López-Núñez; João Loureiro; Ainhoa Magrach; Marika Mänd; Lorenzo Marini; Rafel Beltran Mas; François Massol; Corina Maurer; Denis Michez; Francisco P. Molina; Javier Morente-López; Sarah Mullen; Georgios Nakas; Lena Neuenkamp; Arkadiusz Nowak; Catherine J. O'Connor; Aoife O'Rourke; Erik Öckinger; Jens M. Olesen; Øystein H. Opedal; Theodora Petanidou; Yves Piquot; Simon G. Potts; Eileen F. Power; Willem Proesmans; Demetra Rakosy; Sara Reverté; Stuart P.M. Roberts; Maj Rundlöf; Laura Russo; Bertrand Schatz; Jeroen Scheper; Oliver Schweiger; Pau Enric Serra; Catarina Siopa; Henrik G. Smith; Dara Stanley; Valentin Ştefan; Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter; Jane C. Stout; Louis Sutter; Elena Motivans Švara; Sebastian Świerszcz; Amibeth Thompson; Anna Traveset; Annette Trefflich; Robert Tropek; Teja Tscharntke; Adam J. Vanbergen; Montserrat Vilà; Ante Vujić; Cian White; Jennifer B. Wickens; Victoria B. Wickens; Marie Winsa; Leana Zoller; Ignasi Bartomeus
• Department/s: Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC); Biodiversity and Evolution; Biodiversity and Conservation Science
• Publishing year: 2025-02
• Language: English
• Publication/Series: Global Ecology and Biogeography
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 2
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.70000
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Topic: Ecology (including Biodiversity Conservation)
• Keywords: angiosperms; connectance; flowering plants; nestedness; plant-pollinator networks; pollinators; species interactions
• Status: Published
• Research group: Biodiversity and Conservation Science
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1466-822X