This dataset presents wild bee occurrence records from the southern French Alps (Peyresq area; Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France), collected over four years (2022–2025) along an elevational gradient (910–2,474 m a.s.l.) spanning montane to alpine habitats. Sampling was conducted annually in early July.
The dataset comprises 4,502 specimens identified to species level, representing 241 species across six families: Andrenidae, Apidae, Colletidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, and Melittidae. Data are formatted according to Darwin Core standards and specimens are deposited at the \nUniversity of Mons (Belgium). The dataset includes several species listed as threatened on the European Red List of Bees and provides a baseline for biodiversity and conservation studies in mountain ecosystems of southern Europe.
","language":"eng","citation":{"text":"Benrezkallah J (2026). Wild bees collected in the village of Peyresq and surrounding areas in the Southern French Alps. Version 1.4. University of Mons. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/9zvkch accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.","citationProvidedBySource":false},"contactsCitation":[{"key":7114102,"abbreviatedName":"Benrezkallah J","firstName":"Jordan","lastName":"Benrezkallah","roles":["METADATA_AUTHOR","ORIGINATOR"],"userId":[]}],"lockedForAutoUpdate":false,"createdBy":"d02b7f80-1b78-11dd-be3c-b8a03c50a862","modifiedBy":"crawler.gbif.org","created":"2026-08-10T09:59:46.846+00:00","modified":"2026-08-22T17:04:37.909+00:00","contacts":[{"key":7114102,"type":"ORIGINATOR","primary":true,"userId":[],"firstName":"Jordan","lastName":"Benrezkallah","position":[],"email":["jordan.benrezkallah@umons.ac.be"],"phone":[],"homepage":["https://jordanbzk.github.io/"],"organization":"Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons","address":[],"city":"Mons","country":"BE","postalCode":"7000","createdBy":"crawler.gbif.org","modifiedBy":"crawler.gbif.org","created":"2026-08-22T17:04:37.887+00:00","modified":"2026-08-22T17:04:37.887+00:00"},{"key":7114103,"type":"METADATA_AUTHOR","primary":true,"userId":[],"firstName":"Jordan","lastName":"Benrezkallah","position":[],"email":["jordan.benrezkallah@umons.ac.be"],"phone":[],"homepage":["https://jordanbzk.github.io/"],"organization":"Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons","address":[],"city":"Mons","country":"BE","postalCode":"7000","createdBy":"crawler.gbif.org","modifiedBy":"crawler.gbif.org","created":"2026-08-22T17:04:37.890+00:00","modified":"2026-08-22T17:04:37.890+00:00"},{"key":7114104,"type":"ADMINISTRATIVE_POINT_OF_CONTACT","primary":true,"userId":[],"firstName":"Jordan","lastName":"Benrezkallah","position":[],"email":["jordan.benrezkallah@umons.ac.be"],"phone":[],"homepage":["https://jordanbzk.github.io/"],"organization":"Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons","address":[],"city":"Mons","country":"BE","postalCode":"7000","createdBy":"crawler.gbif.org","modifiedBy":"crawler.gbif.org","created":"2026-08-22T17:04:37.891+00:00","modified":"2026-08-22T17:04:37.891+00:00"}],"endpoints":[{"key":1314283,"type":"DWC_ARCHIVE","url":"https://ipt.biodiversity.be/archive.do?r=umons_wild_bees_peyresq_france","createdBy":"d02b7f80-1b78-11dd-be3c-b8a03c50a862","modifiedBy":"d02b7f80-1b78-11dd-be3c-b8a03c50a862","created":"2026-08-22T17:03:37.259+00:00","modified":"2026-08-22T17:03:37.259+00:00","machineTags":[]},{"key":1314282,"type":"EML","url":"https://ipt.biodiversity.be/eml.do?r=umons_wild_bees_peyresq_france","createdBy":"d02b7f80-1b78-11dd-be3c-b8a03c50a862","modifiedBy":"d02b7f80-1b78-11dd-be3c-b8a03c50a862","created":"2026-08-22T17:03:37.187+00:00","modified":"2026-08-22T17:03:37.187+00:00","machineTags":[]}],"machineTags":[{"key":33267271,"namespace":"crawler.gbif.org","name":"crawl_attempt","value":"13","createdBy":"crawler.gbif.org","created":"2026-10-19T01:04:31.229+00:00"}],"tags":[],"identifiers":[{"key":471934,"type":"UUID","identifier":"50c8a1bc-0f4e-4df6-9de8-651e2426b81d","createdBy":"crawler.gbif.org","created":"2026-08-10T12:19:49.947+00:00","primary":false},{"key":471923,"type":"URL","identifier":"https://ipt.biodiversity.be/resource?r=umons_wild_bees_peyresq_france","createdBy":"crawler.gbif.org","created":"2026-08-10T10:00:47.669+00:00","primary":false}],"comments":[],"bibliographicCitations":[],"curatorialUnits":[],"taxonomicCoverages":[{"description":"N/A","coverages":[{"scientificName":"Halictidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Arthropoda","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}},{"scientificName":"Hymenoptera","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Andrenidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Megachilidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Insecta","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Apidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Animalia","rank":{"verbatim":"kingdom","interpreted":"KINGDOM"}},{"scientificName":"Colletidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Melittidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}}]}],"geographicCoverages":[{"description":"Sampling was conducted in the southern French Alps, near Peyresq village (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France). The study area spans an altitudinal gradient ranging from the montane to the alpine zone, between 910 and 2,474 m above sea level, and includes various natural habitats characteristic of high-altitude Mediterranean mountain ecosystems.","boundingBox":{"minLatitude":43.970361,"maxLatitude":44.300278,"minLongitude":6.506148,"maxLongitude":6.711395,"globalCoverage":false}}],"temporalCoverages":[{"@type":"range","start":"2022-07-05T00:00:00.000+00:00","end":"2025-07-14T00:00:00.000+00:00"}],"keywordCollections":[{"thesaurus":"GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type_2015-07-10.xml","keywords":["Occurrence"]},{"thesaurus":"GBIF Dataset Subtype Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_subtype.xml","keywords":["Specimen"]}],"project":{"title":"Wild bees of the Peyresq area, southern French Alps","identifier":"Peyresq_WildBees_2022_2025","contacts":[{"type":"AUTHOR","primary":false,"userId":["https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9385-7190"],"firstName":"Jordan","lastName":"Benrezkallah","position":[],"email":[],"phone":[],"homepage":[],"address":[]}],"funding":"Jordan Benrezkallah is supported by the Horizon Europe Project WildPosh (Pan European assessment, monitoring, and mitigation of chemical stressors on the health of wild pollinators, Grant No agreement No. 101135238).","awards":[],"relatedProjects":[],"abstract":"This project documents wild bee diversity in the Peyresq area in the southern French Alps (France). It compiles occurrence records collected along an elevational gradient from 910 to 2,474 m a.s.l. during repeated sampling campaigns between 2022 and 2025. The dataset aims to provide standardized biodiversity data for ecological and conservation studies in Mediterranean mountain ecosystems. Specimens were identified to species level and integrated into a Darwin Core-compliant dataset."},"samplingDescription":{"studyExtent":"Sampling was conducted in the vicinity of the village of Peyresq (municipality of Thorame-Haute) and surrounding areas in the southern French Alps (departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France). Sites were distributed along an elevational gradient from 910 to 2,474 m a.s.l., covering montane, subalpine, and alpine zones. Field missions were conducted annually over four consecutive years (2022–2025), each lasting approximately 10 days in early July.","sampling":"Bees were collected by net on a wide variety of flowering plants to maximise species diversity and abundance. Sampling was carried out by a team of 7–9 people with varying levels of entomological experience. After collection, specimens were euthanized, pinned, and labelled with standard collection information (date, geographic coordinates, locality name, and altitude).","qualityControl":"Species-level identification was performed by taxonomic specialists for each bee group. Species names follow the taxonomic backbone of Ghisbain et al. (2025). Following identification, each specimen was labelled with species name, identifier, and sex. All occurrence data were digitized using the Darwin Core standard.","methodSteps":["Specimens were collected in the field using entomological nets, euthanized, pinned, and labelled. They were subsequently identified to species level by taxonomic experts and digitized following the Darwin Core standard. Voucher specimens are deposited in the collection of the University of Mons (Belgium)."]},"countryCoverage":[],"collections":[],"dataDescriptions":[],"dataLanguage":"eng","purpose":"This dataset documents wild bee diversity along an elevational gradient \n(910–2,474 m a.s.l.) in the Peyresq area, southern French Alps, based on\n standardized sampling conducted annually from 2022 to 2025. It provides\n a baseline of species-level occurrence data to support biodiversity \nmonitoring and conservation in Mediterranean mountain ecosystems, \nincluding for species listed on the European Red List of Bees.","introduction":"Wild bees are key pollinators facing global decline, yet mountain \npollinator communities remain understudied compared to lowland regions. \nThis dataset presents occurrence records of wild bees collected between \n2022 and 2025 in the Peyresq area (southern French Alps), across an \nelevational gradient from montane to alpine zones. Fieldwork, carried \nout annually in July by the Laboratory of Zoology (University of Mons, \nBelgium), yielded 4,502 specimens identified to species level, covering \n241 species in six families.","gettingStarted":"Data follow the Darwin Core standard, with one record per specimen \n(date, coordinates, locality, altitude, and species-level \nidentification; taxonomy after Ghisbain et al. 2025). Voucher specimens \nare deposited at the University of Mons and available on request.","acknowledgements":"We thank all field supervisors, students, and collaborators involved in sampling and specimen processing during the 2022–2025 field campaigns in the southern French Alps. We also acknowledge the University of Mons (Belgium) for providing institutional support.","pubDate":"2026-08-22T00:00:00.000+00:00","maintenanceUpdateFrequency":"UNKNOWN","maintenanceDescription":"The dataset will be updated in the future as additional field collections are conducted. Sampling is expected to continue annually. However, updates will be released at irregular intervals, depending on data processing and validation progress.","license":"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","dwca":{"coreType":"http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Occurrence","extensions":[],"modified":"2026-08-24T09:08:44.100+00:00"},"approximateCounts":{"occurrenceCount":4502}}