Data an code from: Global Patterns and Drivers of Bee Richness and Endemism on Islands
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Abstract
Repository Structure Data islandspecieslist.csv — Final curated checklist of island bee species occurrences model_table.csv — Island-level predictor and response dataset for modeling mainland_checklist.csv — Checklist of continental/mainland bee species islands.shp — Island spatial geometries islands.shx — Shapefile spatial index islands.dbf — Shapefile attribute table islands.prj — Coordinate reference system information Data details islandspecieslist.csv Final curated occurrence list. Variable Description Units / Format OBJECTID_1 Island unique identifier matching shapefile Integer ID IslandName Standardized island name Character string Corrected Validated species binomial name Character string REALM Biogeographic realm Categorical string Uncertain Flag for record uncertainty Binary (0 = confirmed, 1 = uncertain) NonNative Introduced status flag Binary (0 = native, 1 = non-native) Archipelago Archipelago or island group name Character string full_name Full species name with author/year Character string model_table.csv Primary dataset used in linear mixed-effects models to evaluate richness, single-island endemism (SIE), archipelago endemism (AE), and plant relationships. Variable Description Units / Format OBJECTID_1 Island unique identifier matching shapefile Integer ID IslandName Standardized island name Character string FinalRichNat Total native bee species richness Count SIE Single-island endemic species richness Count AE Archipelago endemic species richness Count AreaModel Surface land area of island km$^2$ DistModel Distance to nearest mainland km n_records Total occurrence record count Count Cov Estimated sampling coverage Proportion (0–1) coverage_adj Size-adjusted sampling completeness Proportion (0–1) TypeModel Island origin classification Categorical (oceanic, fragment, continental) Biome Biome type Categorical (B, M, TC, TP, D) PS Precipitation seasonality Coefficient of variation TS Temperature seasonality Standard deviation $\times$ 100 AP Annual precipitation mm AMT Mean annual temperature °C $\times$ 10 ElevRange Elevation range Meters (m) Dist_to_gt1 Distance to landmass $>1\text{ km}^2$ km Dist_to_gt1k Distance to landmass $>1,000\text{ km}^2$ km Dist_to_gt10k Distance to landmass $>10,000\text{ km}^2$ km Land_in_10km Land area within 10 km buffer km$^2$ Land_in_100km Land area within 100 km buffer km$^2$ Land_in_1000km Land area within 1000 km buffer km$^2$ Angi.Isl.Nat Native angiosperm (flowering plant) richness Count Archipelago Archipelago or island group name Character string Spatial Data The spatial dataset consists of the following shapefile components: islands.shp, islands.shx, islands.dbf, islands.prj Coordinate reference system: World Mollweide (ESRI:54009) Source: Sayre, R., Noble, S., Hamann, S., Smith, R., Wright, D., Breyer, S., Butler, K., Van Graafeiland, K., Frye, C., Karagulle, D. and Hopkins, D., 2019. A new 30 meter resolution global shoreline vector and associated global islands database for the development of standardized ecological coastal units. Journal of Operational Oceanography, 12(sup2), pp.S47–S56. Processing: Polygons reprojected to Eckert IV (+proj=eck4) in R for global map plots and centroid distance calculations. R Code Functions.R: Contains custom R functions used by the analysis scripts. Script1_Maps.R: Produces global map distributions of bee diversity on islands. Outputs: Figure1.pdf, Figure3.pdf, Extended Data Table1 Script2_Richness.R: Fits linear mixed-effects models evaluating native species richness drivers. Outputs: Figure2.pdf, FigureS1.pdf, FigureS2.pdf, FigureS3.pdf, FigureS8.pdf, Table S1, Table S2, Table S3, Table S4 Script3_Endemism.R: Analyzes single-island endemism (SIE) and archipelago endemism (AE) drivers and tests for richness-endemism deviation. Outputs: Figure4.pdf, FigureS4.pdf, FigureS5.pdf, FigureS6.pdf, FigureS7.pdf, Table S5, Table S6, Table S7, Table S8, Table S9 Script4_Angiosperm.R: Tests relationship between native bee richness and native angiosperm richness. Outputs: Figure5.pdf, Table S10, Table S11 License Code: The R code in this repository is released under the MIT License. Data: The datasets produced for this study are released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Citation Associated Publication Title: Global Patterns and Drivers of Bee Richness and Endemism on Islands Authors: Marshall, L., Ascher, J. S., Whittaker, R. J., Orr, M. C., Hughes, A. C., Schrader, J., Weigelt, P., Kreft, H. & Vereecken, N. J. Abstract: Islands harbour a disproportionate share of global biodiversity, yet insects, even invaluable pollinators such as bees, remain underrepresented in island biogeography research. Here, we present the first global checklist of island bees, recording 4,143 species across 305 islands. Although islands comprise only ~6% of Earth’s land area, they support ~20% of known global bee diversity, and 42% of insular species are endemic, making up ~8% of all known bee species. Island bee species richness peaks at mid-latitudes (at least in the Northern hemisphere), mirroring continental trends. Native richness increases with island area and declines with isolation, consistent with patterns in other taxa. The strength of island species–area relationships varies among biomes and is steepest in Mediterranean-type systems, which also support disproportionately high bee richness relative to flowering plant diversity. The number of endemic species is highest on large tropical islands, reflecting extensive in situ diversification. Major centers of bee endemism include Madagascar, Malesia (e.g. the Greater Sundas and New Guinea), and Hawai‘i, where a single large radiation of Hylaeus (Nesoprosopis) dominates. Among islands capable of supporting endemic species, endemism scales strongly with total richness. These findings highlight the need to integrate island bee diversity into global conservation planning and position bees as a model for understanding insect evolution and conservation on islands. Journal: Nature Year: 2026 DOI: Repository Zenodo DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23222636 Contact Leon Marshall Email: leon.marshall@naturalis.nl
Authors 9
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Naturalis Biodiversity Center · Université Libre de Bruxelles
Affiliation as printed
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
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National University of Singapore
Affiliation as printed
Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore
Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Singapore
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University of Copenhagen · University of Oxford
Affiliation as printed
School of Geography and the Environment, and St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford
Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen
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Chinese Academy of Sciences · Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart · Institute of Zoology · Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution
Affiliation as printed
Entomologie, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart
Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Affiliation as printed
School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne
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Affiliation as printed
School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Environmental Science, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Biodiversity, Macroecology, and Biogeography, University of Göttingen
Campus-Institute Data Science, Göttingen
Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use, University of Göttingen
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Affiliation as printed
Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)