Data from: Bumble-BEEHAVE: a systems model for exploring multifactorial causes of bumblebee decline at individual, colony, population and community level

1. Worldwide declines in pollinators, including bumblebees, are attributed
to a multitude of stressors such as habitat loss, resource availability,
emerging viruses and parasites, exposure to pesticides, and climate change
operating at various spatial and temporal scales. Disentangling individual
and interacting effects of these stressors, and understanding their impact
at the individual, colony and population level is a challenge for systems
ecology. Empirical testing of all combinations and contexts is not
feasible. A mechanistic multi-level systems model
(individual-colony-population-community) is required to explore resilience
mechanisms of populations and communities under stress. 2. We present a
model which can simulate the growth, behaviour and survival of six UK
bumblebee species living in any mapped landscape. Bumble-BEEHAVE
simulates, in an agent-based approach, the colony development of
bumblebees in a realistic landscape to study how multiple stressors affect
bee numbers and population dynamics. We provide extensive documentation,
including sensitivity analysis and validation, based on data from
literature. The model is freely available, has flexible settings and
includes a user manual to ensure it can be used by researchers, farmers,
policy-makers, NGO's or interested lay people. User support will be
provided via the BEEHAVE website (http://beehave-model.net/) and social
media. 3. Model outcomes compare well with empirical data for individual
foraging behaviour, colony growth and reproduction, and estimated nest
densities. 4. Simulating the impact of reproductive depression caused by
pesticide exposure shows that the complex feedback mechanisms captured in
this model predict higher colony resilience to stress than suggested by a
previous, simpler model. 5. Synthesis and applications: Bumble-BEEHAVE
represents a significant step towards predicting bumblebee population
dynamics in a spatially explicit way. It will enable researchers to
understand the individual and interacting effects of the multiple
stressors affecting bumblebee survival and the feedback mechanisms that
may buffer a colony against environmental stress, or indeed lead to
spiralling colony collapse. The model can be used to aid the design of
field experiments, for risk assessments, to inform conservation and
farming decisions and for assigning bespoke management recommendations at
a landscape scale.27-Mar-2018