Data from: Structure of bee communities in marginal lands of the Puget Sound, USA

Wild bee communities in urban ecosystems are often challenged by habitat
fragmentation and low floral diversity. In such settings, marginal land
surrounding airports or in power line corridors may support bees, even
with small habitat patches. However, temporal surveys of wild bees are
lacking for many urban areas such as the Puget Sound region of western
Washington State, USA. Here, we conducted wild bee surveys at three
peri-urban sites in the Puget Sound over 7 years. Specifically, a
standardized protocol was used to sample wild bee communities monthly from
April to October at two sites associated with airports and one site in a
power line corridor. In total, our surveys collected 25,441 specimens
representing 118 confirmed species within 24 genera, with individual
subsites having between 15 and 35 species in any year. The Halictidae
represented the most individuals collected, with 47% of specimens. By
genus, Lasioglossum was the most speciose (n = 21), with Bombus, Osmia,
and Andrena also ubiquitous and diverse. Bee diversity was high across
spring and summer, and our surveys resolved the presumptive overlap of
parasites with their hosts. Our study shows that marginal lands requiring
little management can support diverse wild bee communities in urban areas.
Our work also provides a baseline for future evaluations of wild bee
communities in the Puget Sound and broader Pacific Northwest.