Functional traits and phenology drive the structure of some buzz-pollinated plant–bee networks in a tropical savanna

This dataset originates from a study on buzz-pollination in a Brazilian savanna community. The research investigated how flowering phenology and bee functional traits (body size, sociality, and buzzing behavior) shape the structure and dynamics of bee-flower interaction networks in selected species of Fabaceae, Melastomataceae, and Bixaceae. The dataset includes one year of monitoring of five poricidal-flowered species, with bees classified into functional groups based on buzzing behavior (whole-flower, anther-only, or non-buzzing). It contains records of flowering phenology, bee species composition, functional group assignments, and multilayer interaction networks. Network metrics were calculated at species and group levels, including specialization (d′ and H₂′), centrality, and nestedness (WNODF). The data show that flowering was highly seasonal but exhibited phenological overlap among plant species, ensuring resource continuity and shared pollinators. While bee richness did not differ significantly between seasons, species composition and functional groups varied over time. Results indicate that whole-flower buzzing bees formed more specialized sub-networks, non-buzzing bees structured highly nested generalist networks, and anther-only buzzing bees showed strong interaction segregation. Individual specialization (d′) was unrelated to bee body size, sociality, or abundance, whereas centrality increased with abundance and was marginally influenced by the interaction of body size and sociality. Overall, the dataset demonstrates how phenological overlap and pollinator traits jointly structure buzz-pollination networks.