Atlantic flower–invertebrate interactions: A data set of occurrence and frequency of floral visits

Encounters between flowers and invertebrates are key events for the functioning of tropical forests. Assessing the structure of networks composed of the interactions between those partners leads to a better understanding of ecosystem functioning and the effects of environmental factors on ecological processes. Gathering such data is, however, costly and time-consuming, especially in the highly diverse tropics. We aimed to provide a comprehensive repository of available flower–invertebrate interaction information for the Atlantic Forest, a South American tropical forest domain. Data were obtained from published works and “gray literature,” such as theses and dissertations, as well as self-reports by co-authors. The data set has ~18,000 interaction records forming 482 networks, each containing between one and 1061 interaction links. Each network was sampled for about 200 h or less, with few exceptions. A total of 641 plant genera within 136 different families and 39 orders were reported, with the most abundant and rich families being Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Rubiaceae. Invertebrates interacting with these plants were all arthropods from 10 orders, 129 families, and 581 genera, comprising 2419 morphotypes (including 988 named species). Hymenoptera was the most abundant and diverse order, with at least six times more records than the second-ranked order (Lepidoptera). The complete data set shows Hymenoptera interacting with all plant orders and also shows Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Hemiptera to be important nodes. Among plants, Asterales and Fabales had the highest number of interactions. The best sampled environment was forest (~8000 records), followed by pastures and crops. Savanna, grasslands, and urban environments (among others) were also reported, indicating a wide range of approaches dedicated to collecting flower–invertebrate interaction data in the Atlantic Forest domain. Nevertheless, most reported data were from forest understory or lower strata, indicating a knowledge gap about flower–invertebrate interactions at the canopy. Also, access to remote regions remains a limitation, generating sampling bias across the geographical range of the Atlantic Forest. Future studies in these continuous and hard-to-access forested areas will yield important new information regarding the interactions between flowers and invertebrates in the Atlantic Forest. There are no copyright restrictions on the data set. Please cite this data paper if the data are used in publications and teaching events.Fil: Boscolo, Danilo. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil. National Institute of Science and Technology in Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies in Ecology and Evolution; BrasilFil: Nobrega Rodrigues, Bárbara. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil. National Institute of Science and Technology in Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies in Ecology and Evolution; BrasilFil: Ferreira, Patrícia Alves. Universidade Federal do São Carlos; Brasil. National Institute of Science and Technology in Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies in Ecology and Evolution; BrasilFil: Lopes, Luciano Elsinor. Universidade Federal do São Carlos; Brasil. National Institute of Science and Technology in Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies in Ecology and Evolution; BrasilFil: Tonetti, Vinicius Rodrigues. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Reis dos Santos, Isabela Cristhina. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Hiruma Lima, Juliana Akemi. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Nery, Laura. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Baptista de Lima, Karoline. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Perozi, Jéssica. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Freitas, André Victor Lucci. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Felipe Viana, Blandina. Universidade Federal da Bahia; Brasil. National Institute of Science and Technology in Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies in Ecology and Evolution; BrasilFil: Antunes Carvalho, Caio. Universidade Federal Fluminense; BrasilFil: Amorim, Dalton de Souza. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Freitas de Oliveira, Favízia. Universidade Federal da Bahia; Brasil. National Institute of Science and Technology in Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies in Ecology and Evolution; BrasilFil: Groppo, Milton. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Absy, Maria Lúcia. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: de Almeida Scabbia, Renata Jimenez. Universidade de Mogi Das Cruzes; BrasilFil: Alves Araújo, Anderson. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: de Amorim, Felipe Wanderley. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Antiqueira, Pablo Augusto Poleto. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Antonini, Yasmine. Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto; BrasilFil: Aoki, Camila. Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; BrasilFil: dos Santos Aragão, Daniele. Universidade do Estado da Bahia; BrasilFil: Balbino, Tais Cristina Teixeira. Universidade do Estado da Bahia; BrasilFil: da Silva Ferreira Bandeira, Michele. Universidade do Estado da Bahia; BrasilFil: Barbosa, Bruno Corrêa. Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora; BrasilFil: de Vasconcellos Barbosa, Maria Regina. Universidade Federal Da Paraíba; BrasilFil: Machado de Souza, Tatiana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural. - Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural; ArgentinaFil: Galetto, Leonardo. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin