Data from: Trap nests for bees and wasps to analyse trophic interactions in changing environments - a systematic overview and user guide

1. Trap nests are artificially made nesting resources for solitary
cavity-nesting bees and wasps and allow easy quantification of multiple
trophic interactions between bees, wasps, their food objects and natural
enemies. 2. We synthesized all trap nest studies available in the ISI Web
of Science™ to provide a comprehensive overview of trap nest research and
identify common practical challenges and promising future research
directions. 3. Trap nests have been used on all continents and across
climate zones and publication numbers have increased exponentially since
the first studies in the 1950s. Originally used for detailed exploratory
natural history observations, trap nests are now also an established
method in hypothesis-driven ecology and to assess environmental changes.
We identify the potential of trap nests for environmental monitoring by
assessing trophic interaction networks of the groups involved. While
pollen collection by bees or prey hunting by wasps has often been
addressed, and interactions with natural enemies were included in almost
half of all publications, surprisingly few studies have quantified trophic
interaction networks in response to natural and anthropogenic
environmental changes. 4. By simultaneously revealing a multitude of
trophic interactions, trap nests have the potential to broaden our
understanding how species interaction networks are influenced by manifold
environmental changes, which are pressing topics in ecological research.
To foster the use of trap nests in future studies, we identify common
challenges and offer guidance on practical solutions.