Phenology and flower species availability define wild bee communities on river embankments

River embankments cover extensive areas in estuaries worldwide, yet their potential for pollinator conservation remains largely unexplored. Even more so than road verges, these embankments may offer widespread habitat for pollinators due to their size and sun-facing warm slopes. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of bee communities from 157 dike grasslands along the lower branches of the Meuse and Rhine rivers in the Netherlands in relation to vegetation composition and landscape characteristics. We encountered nearly half (156) of all Dutch bee species. Almost 10% of all individuals belonged to red-listed species, especially in early spring when we observed rich ground nesting bee communities with their associated kleptoparasites. Wild bee abundance and diversity increased with more flowering plant species present, but saturated at low flower species richness. This early saturation suggests that even modest conservation efforts could effectively alleviate floral resource limitati..., , , # Phenology and flower species availability define wild bee communities on river embankments

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.ffbg79d5b](10.5061/dryad.ffbg79d5b)

## Description of the data and file structure

### Files and variables

#### File: LocationCoordinates.csv

**Description:** This file holds all location codes and their respective RD new (EPSG:28992) coordinates.

##### Variables

* Location: code for the location
* x-coord: x coordinate of the location (EPSG:28992 - Amersfoort / RD new)
* y-coord: y coordinate of the location (EPSG:28992 - Amersfoort / RD new)

#### File: BeesOnDykesNetherlands.csv

**Description:** This file holds wild bee survey data and associated variables.

##### Variables

* Location: code for the location used (the coordinates are provided in the LocationCoordinates.csv)

- Year: the year the survey was taken

* Date: the date of the survey (DD/MM/YYYY)

- Species: the scientific species name

* Time.start: start time of the survey - in some occasions sta...,