Data from: Seasonal cycles, phylogenetic assembly, and functional diversity of orchid bee communities

Neotropical rainforests sustain some of the most diverse terrestrial communities on Earth. Euglossine (or orchid) bees are a diverse lineage of insect pollinators distributed throughout the American tropics, where they provide pollination services to a staggering diversity of flowering plant taxa. Elucidating the seasonal patterns of phylogenetic assembly and functional trait diversity of bee communities can shed new light into the mechanisms that govern the assembly of bee pollinator communities and the potential effects of declining bee populations. Male euglossine bees collect, store, and accumulate odoriferous compounds (perfumes) to subsequently use during courtship display. Thus, synthetic chemical baits can be used to attract and monitor euglossine bee populations. We conducted monthly censuses of orchid bees in three sites in the Magdalena valley of Colombia – a region where Central and South American biotas converge – to investigate the structure, diversity, and assembly of euglossine bee communities through time in relation to seasonal climatic cycles. In particular, we tested the hypothesis that phylogenetic community structure and functional trait diversity changed in response to seasonal rainfall fluctuations. All communities exhibited strong to moderate phylogenetic clustering throughout the year, with few pronounced bursts of phylogenetic overdispersion that coincided with the transition from wet-to-dry seasons. Despite the heterogeneous distribution of functional traits (e.g., body size, body mass, and proboscis length) and the observed seasonal fluctuations in phylogenetic diversity, we found that functional trait diversity, evenness, and divergence remained constant during all seasons in all communities. However, similar to the pattern observed with phylogenetic diversity, functional trait richness fluctuated markedly with rainfall in all sites. These results emphasize the importance of considering seasonal fluctuations in community assembly and provide a glimpse to the potential effects that climatic alterations may have on both pollinator communities and the ecosystem services they provide.新热带界雨林支撑着地球上最为多样的陆地群落之一。兰花蜂（Euglossine bee）是一类分布于整个美洲热带地区的多样昆虫传粉者，它们为数量极其丰富的显花植物类群提供传粉服务。阐明蜂类群落的系统发育组装与功能性状多样性的季节模式，能够为解析传粉蜂类群落的组装机制以及蜂群衰减的潜在影响提供新的视角。雄性兰花蜂会采集、储存并累积有气味的化合物（香水类物质），用于后续的求偶展示。因此，合成化学诱饵可用于诱捕并监测兰花蜂种群。我们在哥伦比亚马格达莱纳河谷——一个中南美洲生物区交汇的区域——的三个样地开展了兰花蜂的月度普查，以探究兰花蜂群落的结构、多样性与组装随时间变化的规律，及其与季节气候周期的关联。具体而言，我们验证了如下假说：群落系统发育结构与功能性状多样性会随季节降雨波动发生变化。所有样地的群落全年均表现出较强至中等程度的系统发育聚集，仅有少量显著的系统发育发散脉冲，且这些脉冲恰好出现在湿季向干季转换的时段。尽管功能性状（如体型大小、体重以及喙长）的分布存在异质性，且观测到系统发育多样性存在季节波动，但我们发现所有样地的群落中，功能性状多样性、均匀度与分化度在各季节均保持稳定。然而，与系统发育多样性的变化模式类似，所有样地的功能性状丰富度均随降雨量发生显著波动。本研究结果凸显了在群落组装研究中考虑季节波动的重要性，同时也为气候变化对传粉者群落及其提供的生态系统服务可能产生的潜在影响提供了初步认知。