Title:

Plant-pollinator communities of upland forest and meadow habitats in the King Fire and surrounding unburned areas of the Eldorado National Forest in 2016 and 2017

Author(s):

Tarbill, Gina L.; White, Angela M.; Sollmann, Rahel

Publication Year:

2026

How to Cite:

These data were collected using funding from the U.S. Government and can be used without additional permissions or fees. If you use these data in a publication, presentation, or other research product please use the following citation:

Tarbill, Gina L.; White, Angela M.; Sollmann, Rahel. 2026. Plant-pollinator communities of upland forest and meadow habitats in the King Fire and surrounding unburned areas of the Eldorado National Forest in 2016 and 2017. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2026-0028

Abstract:

This data publication contains pollinator and habitat data collected two and three years after the 2014 King Fire in the Eldorado National Forest in California. Sampled sites were located in roughly homogenous areas (approximately 200 square meters) and included three different burn severity classes: 1) unchanged (unburned), 2) low-moderate combined (where low = surface fire with little mortality of dominant vegetation and moderate = mix of surface fire with little mortality and more severe fire with some mortality of the dominant vegetation), and 3) high-severity fire (dominant vegetation has high to complete mortality). Two different habitat classes were observed: 1) upland and 2) meadow. A hierarchical sampling design was used, and 3–5 20-meter-radius circular plots were nested within sites of each particular burn-habitat class. This resulted in a total of 151 unique upland plots on 36 sites and 30 meadow plots within 6 sites in 2016 and 2017. Plots were visited two to three times between June and September of each year and surveyed for pollinators (bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds) and flowering plants with open inflorescences. In the 2017 survey, we shifted our focus to record all pollinators in timed surveys as they visited flowers within the plots. The resulting data include cover (%) and infloresence counts for plants in bloom, plot characteristics, counts of hummingbirds, bumble bees, butterflies (2016 only), and other insects (2017 only) that were visiting flowers in sample plots. A map of the area and example photos of different burn severities are also included.

Keywords:

biota; Ecology, Ecosystems, & Environment; Ecology; Plant ecology; Animal ecology; Fire; Fire ecology; Forest & Plant Health; Insects; Wildlife (or Fauna); Invertebrates; Birds; Habitat management; pollinators; post-fire; hummingbirds; butterflies; bees; California; Eldorado National Forest

Related publications:

• Tarbill, Gina L.; White, Angela M.; Sollmann, Rahel. 2023. Response of pollinator taxa to fire is consistent with historic fire regimes in the Sierra Nevada and mediated through floral richness. Ecology and Evolution. 13(12): e10761. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10761 https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/67137
• Tarbill, Gina L.; White, Angela M.; Sollmann, Rahel. 2024. Floral richness drives pollinator diversity after fire in upland forests and meadows of the Sierra Nevada, California. Insect Conservation and Diversity. 77(5): 187. https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12756 https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/67899
• Beaty, R. Matthew; Taylor, Alan H. 2008. Fire history and the structure and dynamics of a mixed conifer forest landscape in the northern Sierra Nevada, Lake Tahoe Basin, California, USA. Forest Ecology and Management. 255(3-4): 707-719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2007.09.044
• More (14 total)

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