Bumble bee niche overlap along an elevation gradient: How traits can inform novel competitive pressures under climate change

Climate change-induced range shifts can disrupt interactions among species by moving them in and out of ecological communities. These disruptions can include impacts on competition for shared resources. Bumble bees (Bombus spp.) are important pollinators shifting their range upwards in elevation in response to climate change. These shifts could lead to altered competition among species and threaten co-existence. This could be particularly worrying at the tops of mountain ranges where bumble bees may no longer be able to move up to higher elevations to track climate change. To better understand this issue, we investigated changes in diet niche overlap among bumble bee species along a 2296m elevation gradient in the southern Rocky Mountains. Additionally, we investigated how morphological and phenological traits impact diet composition (flower species visited) among bumble bee species and explored a thought experiment on how the continued upward movement of bumble bee species under climat..., , , # Bumble bee niche overlap along an elevation gradient: How traits can inform novel competitive pressures under climate change

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1g1jwsv6d](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1g1jwsv6d)

## Description of the data and file structure

\"Bombus_PikesPeak_07_24_24.csv\" contains bumble bee and host flower interaction data collected between May and September for four years (2019-2022) on Pikes Peak, the highest mountain (4302m) in the southern Front Range of Colorado (38° 50' 15.59\" N, -105° 02' 23.40 W\"). Observations were made along an elevation gradient ranging from 1990m to 4286m on Pikes Peak.

\"BB_Diss_Traits_10-22-24.csv\" contains bumble bee trait data for the species that were found in our study at Pikes Peak. Species-level phenology data is sourced from our observations at Pikes Peak. Species-level minimum, maximum, and average worker tongue length (mm, labium: prementum + glossa) is sourced from Macior 1974’s “Pollination ecology of the Front Range of the Co...