Data from: We built it; did they come? Pollinator diversity and community structure in a post-mining prairie restoration project

Pollinator and flowering plant surveys were conducted in three mineland reclamation sites in southeast Ohio during 2019. Floral abundance, floral richness, floral evenness, pollinator richness, and pollinator Shannon’s diversity were calculated from these surveys and counts of individual taxa are also included in the dataset. The sampling month (June, July, August, or September) and seeding treatment (Traditional, Native Light, or Native heavy) were also recorded. Sites were privately owned abandoned mine lands and had variable soil conditions, area, seeding dates, and other minor factors, all detailed in Swab et al (2017). Three plots of 0.4 ha were established at each site. Two plots were revegetated with an experimental native prairie seed mix comprised of both non-native species typically used in reclamation, as well as native species including Panicum virgatum, Sorghastrum nutans, Chamaecrista fasciculata, Coreopsis tinctoria, Rudbeckia triloba, Helianthus maximiliani, and Asclepias syriaca, as well as nonnatives Lotus corniculatus, Lolium perenne, and Dactylis glomerata as insurance, at 16.81 kg ha-1 (Native Light) and 33.63 kg ha-1 (Native Heavy) rates. The other plot was revegetated with a non-native mix frequently used in the reclamation of mine lands in Ohio (Traditional), with a seeding rate of 33.63 kg ha-1. Each site was sampled four times from June-September 2019 on warm (21-32°C) days with no rainfall and ≤ 4.0 m/s winds. One site was sampled per day and subsequent sampling events at each site were approximately 4 weeks apart. Within each plot, 25-m transects were established from a central point, choosing direction with a random number generator. One transect per plot was surveyed per round (early morning, late-morning, and afternoon) a total of three per plot. The counts of pollinators and floral units, respectively, were summed by taxa across quadrats and six-minute walks for each plot by sampling session combination (n = 36). To account for blocking by site, plots nested within sites, and repeated measures on plots, random intercepts of site, plot, and interaction of site and plot were included, despite zero variances, in all univariate models.

Resources in this dataset:

• Resource title: Data Dictionary File name: Data Dictionary_Pollinators NIR.csv

• Resource title: Natives in Reclamation Pollinator Dataset File name: Pollinator_NIR_Data (FIXED).csv Resource description: Diversity indices and counts of pollinator and flowering plants in reclaimed minelands in 2019. Seeding treatments were typical seed mix with a seeding density of 33.63 kg ha-1 (traditional), the typical plant species plus natives (Panicum virgatum, Sorghastrum nutans, Chamaecrista fasciculata, Coreopsis tinctoria, Rudbeckia triloba, Helianthus maximiliani, and Asclepias syriaca, as well as nonnatives Lotus corniculatus, Lolium perenne, and Dactylis glomerata) at 16.81 kg ha-1 (Native Light), and typical plant species plus natives at a higher density at 33.63 kg ha-1 (Native Heavy).