Wild bees occupy temporally stable pollen nutritional niches

Wild bees occupy temporally stable pollen nutritional niches | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Wild bees occupy temporally stable pollen nutritional niches Anthony Domiano Vaudo, Jillian A. Luthy, Eva Lin, Sonja K. Glasser, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8651504/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract As bees’ primary source of protein and lipids, pollen is a nutritional resource key to the persistence of wild populations. Because bee taxa may differ in their pollen macronutrient requirements, and pollen is a limited resource that varies chemically across plants, nutritional niches may shape bees’ ecological interactions. To explore whether members of bee communities occupy pollen nutritional niches, we analysed the protein and lipid content of pollen collected by abundant bee subgenera (Nomadopsis, Melanosmia, Eumelissodes, Pyrobombus) and observed their pollen-collecting visitation to plant species at a single Sierra Nevada meadow across three years. We compared pollen nutrition and host plant visitation among subgenera, and at the species level within Pyrobombus. Subgenera exhibited clear and temporally consistent separation of pollen load macronutrition, achieved by either host-plant fidelity or flexibility when foraging. Pyrobombus species shared a nutritional niche, potentially creating competition for pollen macronutrients among species relieved by their taxonomic flexibility. These results offer some of the first evidence of temporal stability of nutritional niches among wild bee taxa and demonstrate how different taxa may forage to achieve nutritional consistency. Relevant to bee conservation, our findings emphasize that a nutritionally diverse array of plants may be required to support wild bee communities. bee nutritional ecology pollen nutrition plant-pollinator interactions foraging behavior floral rewards Full Text Supplementary Files vaudoetalwildbeenutritionalnichesSIdatastats.xlsx vaudoetalwildbeenutritionalnichesSIfigures.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 10 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 27 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 22 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8651504","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":589255004,"identity":"f0cd09ac-9c49-4f4c-bfec-05ca9ce7c3bd","order_by":0,"name":"Anthony Domiano Vaudo","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA9ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACNjACAoMDDAwSDBVA1gECWvgZmJG1nCFCi2QDshbGNiK0GNzuP/bg447DDJLtZwxvfJx32J7v+AHmFx/b8Gi5c5jdcOYZoJaeHGPLmdsOJ848k8BmOROflhvJbNK8bUAtDTlm0rzbDicYHEhgM+Y5g1uLPUwLP/8boJY5h+0Nzj/ArwVuC78EyJaGw4wbbiQwP+apwKvFTHJmWzoPm8SzYssZx9ITZ9542MY4A6+WxGcSH9us5dj4kzfe+FBjbc93Pvnwhw8GuLVAQTMPEoexTYKgBgaGOhQe8wcitIyCUTAKRsHIAQA1dlV/yUJmxwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5268-5580","institution":"USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anthony","middleName":"Domiano","lastName":"Vaudo","suffix":""},{"id":589255005,"identity":"79573b54-aa3f-4acc-8317-cbefbe4a0359","order_by":1,"name":"Jillian A. 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