Plant–Flower Visitor Interactions in Neotropical Mountain Grasslands Dataset

Dataset overviewThis dataset contains field observations of plant–flower visitor interactions collected from January to December 2025 along an elevational gradient in rupestrian grassland ecosystems at Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais, Brazil. It integrates information on plant–flower visitor interactions, sampling dates and locations, environmental conditions, taxonomic and trait data for plants and flower visitors, and associated photographic records. Data collectionField observations were conducted during twelve monthly sampling campaigns at seven sites in Serra do Cipó from January to December 2025. Sites were distributed along an elevational gradient from 800 to 1,400 m. Each site was sampled once per month by three observers, with three 30 × 30 m plots sampled sequentially between 08:30 and 15:00. The monthly sampling effort was 4 hours per plot.Insect flower visitors were collected using entomological nets, except for thrips, which were collected directly from four floral units of each plant species present in the plots. Hummingbirds were not collected; instead, their interactions with flowers were recorded through direct observation.All flower visitors, including both pollinators and florivores, were recorded. Flower visitors that contacted the reproductive parts of flowers were considered pollinators, whereas those unable to contact these structures were considered florivores.Variables recorded during field observations included sampling date and time, sampling site, temperature, wind conditions, cloudiness, flower abundance, vegetation type, interaction type (i.e., pollination or florivory), and the identities of the observed plant and flower visitor. Dataset structureThe dataset consists of the following tables.`observations.csv`The main observation table contains 9,611 field observations and 12 variables. Each row represents a field observation, which may correspond to a recorded plant–flower visitor interaction or an observation of a plant for which no flower visitor was recorded.The table contains the observation identifier, sampling date and time, sampling site identifier, environmental conditions, plant identifier, flower visitor identifier when applicable, interaction type, flower abundance, and vegetation type.`observations_including_thrips.csv`Plant–thrips interactions are maintained in this separate table because they were not sampled throughout the entire sampling period and are therefore not directly comparable with all interactions included in the main observation table.This table contains an excerpt of the main observation dataset corresponding to observations conducted from October to December 2025, together with additional plant–thrips interactions recorded during this period. It contains 1,320 observations from the main observation table and 2,478 additional plant–thrips interaction records, resulting in 3,798 observations in total.`plants.csv`This table contains 960 plant records and 10 variables. Each row represents a plant specimen recorded during field sampling. The table includes the plant identifier, collection date, site identifier, scientific name, family, genus, species, voucher identifier, a brief plant description, and the name of the person responsible for taxonomic identification.`flower_visitors.csv`This table contains 7,346 flower-visitor specimen records. Each row represents a flower-visitor specimen recorded during the study. The table includes the flower-visitor identifier, collection date, site identifier, morphotype, taxonomic group, scientific name, family, tribe, genus, species, collection information, and the name of the person responsible for taxonomic identification.The table also includes nine morphological trait variables measured for a subset of 242 flower-visitor specimens. These measurements included head length in frontal view, head depth, thorax depth, abdomen depth, maximum head width in frontal view, maximum head width in dorsal view, maximum thorax width, intertegular distance, and maximum second tergite width.`sites.csv`This table contains information on the sampling sites, including site name, plot number, geographic coordinates, elevation, and percentage cover of the different vegetation types present at each site.`images_plants.csv`This table contains metadata for 960 plant photographs stored in `images_plants.zip`. Each image is associated with a unique image identifier and linked to the corresponding plant through `Plant_ID`.Image metadata include the image identifier, plant identifier, date, author, file location, file extension, file size, and image dimensions.`images_flower_visitors.csv`This table contains metadata for 7,067 flower-visitor photographs stored in `images_flower_visitors.zip`. Each image is associated with a unique image identifier and linked to the corresponding flower-visitor specimen through `Visitor_ID`. The table contains the same types of image metadata described for the plant photographs. Relationships among tablesThe tables are linked through unique identifiers:`Observation_ID` uniquely identifies each field observation.`Plant_ID` links field observations, plant taxonomic records, and plant photographs.`Visitor_ID` links field observations, flower-visitor taxonomic/specimen records, and flower-visitor photographs.`Site_ID` links field observations, plant and flower-visitor records, and sampling-site information.`Plant_image_ID` uniquely identifies each plant photographic record.`Visitor_image_ID` uniquely identifies each plant photographic record.The main relationships are:`observations.csv` → `Plant_ID` → `plants.csv``observations.csv` → `Visitor_ID` → `flower_visitors.csv``observations.csv` → `Site_ID` → `sites.csv``plants.csv` → `Plant_ID` → `images_plants.csv``flower_visitors.csv` → `Visitor_ID` → `images_flower_visitors.csv` Data dictionaryDetailed definitions of the variables included in each table are provided in `data_dictionary.csv`. The data dictionary includes variable names, definitions, data types, measurement units where applicable, and information on missing or unavailable values. Geographic coverageCountry: BrazilState: Minas GeraisMunicipality / region: Santana do Riacho / Serra do CipóLatitude range: -19.359 to -19.230Longitude range: -43.609 to -43.534Elevation range: 823.05–1,384.68 m a.s.l.Coordinate reference system: WGS 84 / EPSG:4326 Temporal coverageStart date: 2025-01-14End date: 2025-12-12