Patterns and drivers of pollen co-transport network structure vary across pollinator functional groups

The patterns and drivers of pollen transport on insect bodies can have important consequences for plant reproductive success and floral evolution; however, they remain little studied. Recently, pollinator bodies have been further described as pollen competitive arenas, where pollen grains can compete for space, with implications for the evolution of pollen dispersal strategies and plant community assembly. However, the identity, strength, and diversity of pollen competitive interactions and how they vary across pollinator functional groups is not known. Evaluating patterns and drivers of the pollen co-transport landscape and how these vary across different pollinator groups is central to further our understanding of floral evolution and co-flowering community assembly. Here, we integrate information on the number and identity of pollen grains on individual insect pollen loads with network analyses to uncover novel pollen co-transport networks and how these vary across pollinator functio..., , , # Dataset for \"Patterns and Drivers of Pollen Co-transport Network Structure Vary Across Pollinator Functional Groups\"

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.hqbzkh1rp](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.hqbzkh1rp)

This dataset is part of the paper titled \"Patterns and Drivers of Pollen Co-transport Network Structure Vary Across Pollinator Functional Groups\", published by the Journal of Ecology. In this study, we used individual insects belonging to different functional pollinator groups surveyed on a serpentine seep plant community, North California (in 2021), to show how pollen species encounter each other as they travel on the body of the pollinators (i.e. during pollen transport), facing different competitive landscapes on their pathway to stigmas with implications for pollen-pollen interactions and community assembly.

## Description of the data and file structure

The file contains data from 733 individual pollinators (rows) collected at two sites (BS and RHA) in the serpentine seeps. The fu...