Find research datasets worth reusing

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2020View details →

Data and code for Chapter 1: An expanded scope of biodiversity in urban agriculture, with implications for conservation.

Data and code for Chapter 1: An expanded scope of biodiversity in urban agriculture, with implications for conservation, in Urban Agroecology: Interdisciplinary Research and Future Directions (Monika Egerer and Hamutahl Cohen eds). CRC Press, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, UK

opencc-zeroSep 2020View details →

Raw data from: Consumer-resource interactions along urbanization gradients drive natural selection

Urbanization is an important component of global change. Urbanization affects species interactions, but the evolutionary implications are rarely studied. We investigate the evolutionary consequences of a common pattern: the loss of high trophic-level species in urban areas. Using a gall-forming fly, Eurosta solidaginis, and its natural enemies that select for opposite gall sizes, we test for patterns of enemy loss, selection, and local adaptation along five urbanization gradients. Eurosta declined in urban areas, as did predation by birds, which preferentially consume gallmakers that induce large galls. These declines were linked to changes in habitat availability, namely reduced forest cover in urban areas. Conversely, a parasitoid which attacks gallmakers that induce small galls was unaffected by urbanization. Changes in patterns of attack by birds and parasitoids resulted in stronger directional selection, but loss of stabilizing selection in urban areas, a pattern which we suggest may be general. Despite divergent selective regimes, gall size did not very systematically with urbanization, suggesting but not conclusively demonstrating that environmental differences, gene flow, or drift, may have prevented the adaptive divergence of phenotypes. We argue that the evolutionary effects of urbanization will have predictable consequences for patterns of species interactions and natural selection.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Mammal diversity and metacommunity dynamics in urban green spaces: implications for urban wildlife conservation

As urban growth expands and natural environments fragment, it is essential to understand the ecological roles fulfilled by urban green spaces. To evaluate how urban green spaces function as wildlife habitat, we estimated mammal diversity and metacommunity dynamics in city parks, cemeteries, golf courses, and natural areas throughout the greater Chicago, IL, USA region. We found similar a-diversity (with the exception of city parks), but remarkably dissimilar communities in different urban green spaces. Additionally, the type of urban green space greatly influenced species colonization and persistence rates. For example, coyotes (Canis latrans) had the highest, but white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) the lowest, probability of persistence in golf courses compared to other green space types. Further, most species had a difficult time colonizing city parks even when sites were seemingly available. Our results indicate that urban green spaces contribute different, but collectively important, habitats for maintaining and conserving biodiversity in cities.

opengpl-2.0-or-laterNov 2020View details →

Code and Data from Bhakti et al. on landscape permeability of urban landscape, v. 1.0

This repository shares the code and data from the paper Bhakti et al. (in review), on integrating land cover, animal behavior, and master plan regulations to assess urban landscape permeability for birds. The paper is under review on Landscape and Urban Planning. Bhakti, T.; Pena, J.C.; Niebuhr, B.B.; Sampaio, J.; Goulart, F.F.; Azevedo, C.S.; Ribeiro, M.C., and Antonini, Y. Combining land cover, animal behavior, and master plan regulations to assess landscape permeability for birds. In review.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2020View details →

Clustered Embedding using Deep Learning to Analyze Urban Mobility based on Complex Transportation Data

The subset of the anonymized dataset for personalized POI embedding.

Data from: Disparate patterns of movements and visits to points of interest located in urban hotspots across U.S. metropolitan cities during COVID-19

We examined the effect of social distancing on changes in visits to urban hotspot points of interest. In a pandemic situation, urban hotspots could be potential superspreader areas as visits to urban hotspots can increase the risk of contact and transmission of a disease among a population. We mapped origin-destination networks from census block groups to points of interest (POIs), such as restaurants, museums, and schools, in sixteen cities in the United States. We adopted a coarse-grain approach to examine patterns of visits to POIs among hotspots and non-hotspots from January to May 2020. Also, we conducted chi-square tests to identify POIs with significant flux-in changes during the analysis period. The results showed disparate patterns across cities in terms of reduction in hotspot POI visits. Sixteen cities are divided into two categories. In one category, which includes the cities of, San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago, we observe a considerable decrease in hotspot POI visits, while in another category, including the cites of, Austin, Houston, and San Diego, the visits to hotspots did not greatly decrease. While all the cities exhibited overall decreasing visits to POIs, one category maintained the proportion of visits to hotspot POIs. The proportion of visits to some POIs (e.g., Restaurants) remained stable during the social distancing period, while some POIs had an increased proportion of visits (e.g., Grocery Stores). We also identified POIs with significant flux-in changes, showing that related businesses were greatly affected by social distancing.

Data from: Impacts of habitat on butterfly dispersal in tropical forests, parks and grassland patches embedded in an urban landscape

Dispersal distances of 17 species of butterflies in tropical Singapore were significantly greater in forest than in urban habitat. Butterflies in urban plots frequently moved within suitable habitat (park/grassland) patches but rarely crossed non-habitat patches suggesting potential isolation and a need for urban corridors.

Data from: Functional diversity of phyllostomid bats in an urban-rural landscape: a scale-dependent analysis

Urbanization is one of the most pervasive landscape transformational processes responsible for novel selection agents promoting functional community homogenization. Bats may persist in those human environments, but the mechanisms responsible for their adaptability and the spatial scales in which landscape imposes environmental filtering remain poorly studied in the Neotropics. We tested the hypothesis that landscape composition interacts with the spatial scale to affect the functional diversity of phyllostomids in an urban-rural gradient. Based on functional traits, we calculated indices of functional richness, divergence, evenness, community-weighted means of morphological traits, and classified species into functional groups. We evaluated the changes of those variables in response to forest, grassland, and urbanized areas at 0.5, 1.25 and, 2 km scales. The number of functional groups, functional richness, and functional evenness tended to be higher in areas far from cities and with higher forest cover, whereas functional divergence increased in more urbanized areas. Our results show that the mean value of wing loading in the assemblage was negatively associated to landscape transformation at several spatial scales. However, environmental filtering driven by grass cover was particularly robust at the 500 m scale, affecting big-sized species with long pointed wings. Retaining natural forest in cattle ranging systems at ~12 km2 appears to favor bat abundance evenness among functional types in the urban-rural landscape. Recognizing the scale of the effect on phyllostomid functional responses appears to be a fundamental issue for elucidating the spatial extent to which phyllostomid conservation planning in urban-rural landscapes should be addressed.

Data from: Differing impacts of two major plant invaders on urban plant-dwelling spiders (Araneae) during flowering season

The dataset contains spider (Araneae) specimen numbers collected from flowering invasive American goldenrod (Solidago canadensis/gigantea) and invasive Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) stands occuring naturally in urban areas of the city of Karlsruhe, Germany. Corresponding plots with native ruderalized vegetation in direct vicinity of each invaded plot were used as a comparison plot, resulting in a fully paired design for each plant invader study. An additional column represents potential non-araneae prey items collected together with the spiders from each stand. Spider specimens were determined to the family level as well as classified into web builders and hunters without a web.

Data for: Little parental response to anthropogenic noise in an urban songbird, but evidence for individual differences in sensitivity

Anthropogenic noise exposure has well-documented behavioral, physiological and fitness effects on organisms. However, whether different noise regimes evoke distinct responses has rarely been investigated, despite implications for tailoring noise mitigation policies. Urban animals might display low responsiveness to certain anthropogenic noise regimes, especially consistent noise (e.g. freeway noise), but might remain more sensitive to more diverse noise regimes. Additionally, whether individuals differ in noise sensitivity is a rarely explored issue, which is important to fully understand organismal responses to noise. To address these knowledge gaps, we used a field experiment to measure how urban great tits (Parus major) altered parental behaviors in response to two noise regimes: consistent freeway noise, and a diverse anthropogenic noise regime that incorporated variability in noise type and temporal occurrence. We also evaluated whether sex, age, or a well-described personality trait, novel environment exploration behavior, were associated with responses to noise, although our power to assess individual differences in responses was somewhat limited. We found no evidence for mean population-level changes in nestling provisioning behaviors during either noise treatment. However, despite this overall canalization of behavior, there was evidence for individual differences in noise sensitivity, particularly during the diverse noise treatment. Females and birds that explored a novel environment more rapidly (fast explorers) reduced nestling provisioning rate more relative to baseline levels than males and slow explorers during the diverse urban noise, but not during the consistent freeway noise. Furthermore, first year breeders and fast explorers displayed larger increases in latency to return to the nest box relative to baseline conditions during the diverse noise only. Results suggest that urban animal populations might become overall tolerant to anthropogenic noise, but that certain individuals within these populations nonetheless remain sensitive to certain types of noise exposure.

opencc-by-4.0Jan 2021View details →

Data and Code for Inequality is rising where social network segregation interacts with urban topology

This folder contains data and code to reproduce results of the paper "Inequality is rising where social network segregation interacts with urban topology". arXiv version: https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.11414.

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Are house sparrow populations limited by the lack of cavities in urbanized landscapes? an experimental test.

Current urban policies are associated with deep changes in urban structures, which may impoverish urban biodiversity. A major concern is the disappearance of nesting sites for wild vertebrate species living in urban areas. New urban structures without any cracks or cavities may especially preclude cavity nesters from breeding in cities and they may cause population declines. In that context, we experimentally investigated this question in an urban exploiter bird species (the house sparrow, Passer domesticus), which is dramatically declining in most European cities. To test if the lack of cavities is limiting house sparrow populations in urban areas, we equipped 11 sites along an urbanization gradient with nest boxes and we then evaluated the rate of occupancy of these nest-boxes. This urbanization gradient was characterized by very rural places (isolated farms) and moderately urbanized areas (town of medium size, i.e. 60 000 inhabitants). Surprisingly, rural nest boxes were more occupied than urban ones, suggesting that cavity availability is probably more constraining in rural areas relative to urban ones. Therefore, our study suggests that urban house sparrow populations are probably not constrained by a lack of nesting sites in medium size cities with urban designs similar to our city of interest (Niort, Western France). This hypothesis definitely needs now to be tested in further urban landscapes (e.g. large cities and urban landscapes with other architecture and management policies).

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Assessing individual patterns of Echinococcus multilocularis infection in urban coyotes: non-invasive genetic sampling as epidemiological tool

1. In epidemiological studies of wildlife parasites, faecal genotyping has been introduced to prevent bias in estimates of parasite prevalence from faecal samples collected in the field. Such an approach could be particularly relevant in the study of Echinococcus multilocularis transmission in urban settings, where estimates of prevalence and patterns of infection in wild canid hosts are key parameters used in zoonotic risk assessment and management. However, no previous study has evaluated the reliability of E. multilocularis faecal prevalence, and individual patterns of infection in definitive hosts remain poorly understood. 2. We evaluated faecal genotyping as an epidemiological tool, using E. multilocularis in urban coyotes Canis latrans as our study system. Combining parasitological analysis and multilocus individual genotyping of coyote faeces, we compared faecal parasite prevalence with the prevalence obtained from genotyped faecal samples. Furthermore, we assessed patterns of individual infection, such as re-infection rates and phenology of parasite egg excretion. 3. Of 425 feces collected in five urban sites, we genotyped 142 samples (33.4%) corresponding to 60 unique individual coyotes. Number of genotyped samples per coyote ranged between 1 and 10 (mean = 2.3). Genotypes were obtained at 4–6 microsatellite loci and had a mean reliability of 0.9975. 4. Faecal prevalence of E. multilocularis in genotyped coyotes was 25.0%, and similar to results previously obtained from non-genotyped faeces. Faecal genotyping allowed estimating a re-infection rate of individual coyotes of 57.1%, and to observe temporal patterns of parasite infection that were not detected using non-genotyped faeces. 5. Synthesis and applications. If compared to independent data obtained through coyote post-mortem examination, our results suggest that reliable estimates of overall parasite prevalence in definitive host populations can be efficiently obtained through well-designed field collection and traditional faecal parasitological analysis. However, faecal genotyping allows assessing the dynamics of individual infections, which could otherwise only be estimated by using invasive techniques. Combining faecal genotyping with parasitology has a great potential in assessing zoonotic risk transmission in urban areas, as well as advancing the field of wildlife ecology, disease ecology and conservation.

opencc-zeroDec 2012View details →

Data from: A 454 survey reveals the community composition and core microbiome of the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) across an urban landscape

Elucidating the spatial dynamic and core constituents of the microbial communities found in association with arthropod hosts is of crucial importance for insects that may vector human or agricultural pathogens. The hematophagous Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), known as the human bed bug, has made a recent resurgence in North America, as well as worldwide, potentially owing to increased travel, climate change and resistance to insecticides. A comprehensive survey of the bed bug microbiome has not been performed to date, nor has an assessment of the spatial dynamics of its microbiome. Here we present a survey of internal and external bed bug microbial communities by amplifying the V4–V6 hypervariable region of the 16S rDNA gene region followed by 454 Titanium sequencing using 31 individuals from eight distinct collection locations obtained from residences in Cincinnati, OH. Across all samples, 97% of the microbial community is made up of two dominant OTUs, previously identified as the α-proteobacterium Wolbachia and an unnamed γ-proteobacterium from the Enterobacteriaceae. Microbial communities varied among host locations for measures of community diversity and exhibited structure according to collection location. This broad survey represents the most in-depth assessment, to date, of the microbes that associate with bed bugs.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: A comparative study of insect abundance and reproductive success of barn swallows Hirundo rustica in two urban habitats

Few studies have quantified the relative reproductive success of passerines in urban habitats. I studied food availability and reproductive success of barn swallows Hirundo rustica in two urban habitats during 2012–2015. Barn swallows breeding in the town center experienced lower insect densities than those in the town periphery. Lower food availability resulted in reduced feeding rates per capita, lower nestling body mass, longer nestling periods, longer inter-clutch intervals, fewer first and second brood fledglings and a lower total number of fledglings produced during the breeding season in comparison to barn swallows breeding in the town periphery. I hypothesize that the lower intra-specific competition for nest sites and fitness advantages linked to the solitary breeding in urban habitats balanced the apparent costs of reproduction in more urbanized habitats.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Urbanization drives genetic differentiation in physiology and structures the evolution of pace-of-life syndromes in the water flea Daphnia magna

Natural and human-induced stressors elicit changes in energy metabolism and stress physiology in populations of a wide array of species. Cities are stressful environments that may lead to differential selection on stress-coping mechanisms. Given that city ponds are exposed to the urban heat island effect and receive polluted run-off, organisms inhabiting these ecosystems might show genetic differentiation for physiological traits enabling them to better cope with higher overall stress levels. A common garden study with 62 Daphnia magna genotypes from replicated urban and rural populations revealed that urban Daphnia have significantly higher concentrations of total body fat, proteins, and sugars. Baseline activity levels of the antioxidant defense enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) were higher in rural compared to city populations, yet urban animals were equally well protected against lipid peroxidation. Our results add to the recent evidence of urbanisation-driven changes in stress physiology and energy metabolism in terrestrial organisms. Combining our results with data on urban life history evolution in Daphnia revealed that urban genotypes show a structured pace-of-life syndrome involving both life history and physiological traits, whereas this is absent in rural populations.

opencc-zeroDec 2012View details →

Data from: Sleepless in town – drivers of the temporal shift in dawn song in urban European Blackbirds

Organisms living in urban environments are exposed to different environmental conditions compared to their rural conspecifics. Especially anthropogenic noise and artificial night light are closely linked to urbanization and pose new challenges to urban species. Songbirds are particularly affected by these factors, because they rely on the spread of acoustic information and adjust their behaviour to the rhythm of night and day, e.g. time their dawn song according to changing light intensities. Our aim was to clarify the specific contributions of artificial night light and traffic noise on the timing of dawn song of urban European Blackbirds (Turdus merula). We investigated the onset of blackbird dawn song along a steep urban gradient ranging from an urban forest to the city centre of Leipzig, Germany. This gradient of anthropogenic noise and artificial night light was reflected in the timing of dawn song. In the city centre, blackbirds started their dawn song up to 5 hours earlier compared to those in semi-natural habitats. We found traffic noise to be the driving factor of the shift of dawn song into true night, although it was not completely separable from the effects of ambient night light. We additionally included meteorological conditions into the analysis and found an effect on the song onset. Cloudy and cold weather delayed the onset, but cloud cover was assumed to reflect night light emissions, thus, amplified sky luminance and increased the effect of artificial night light. Beside these temporal effects, we also found differences in the spatial autocorrelation of dawn song onset showing a much higher variability in noisy city areas than in rural parks and forests. These findings indicate that urban hazards such as ambient noise and light pollution show a manifold interference with naturally evolved cycles and have significant effects on the activity patterns of urban blackbirds.

opencc-zeroNov 2019View details →

Data from: The inverted U-shaped effect of urban hotspots spatial compactness on urban economic growth

The compact city, as a sustainable concept, is intended to augment the efficiency of urban function. However, previous studies have concentrated more on morphology than on structure. The present study focuses on urban structural elements, i.e., urban hotspots consisting of high-density and high-intensity socioeconomic zones, and explores the economic performance associated with their spatial structure. We use nighttime luminosity (NTL) data and the Loubar method to identify and extract the hotspot and ultimately draw two conclusions. First, with population increasing, the hotspot number scales sublinearly with an exponent of approximately 0.50~0.55, regardless of the location in China, the EU or the US, while the intersect values are totally different, which is mainly due to different economic developmental level. Secondly, we demonstrate that the compactness of hotspots imposes an inverted U-shaped influence on economic growth, which implies that an optimal compactness coefficient does exist. These findings are helpful for urban planning.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Nest suitability, fine-scale population structure and male-mediated dispersal of a solitary ground nesting bee in an urban landscape

Bees are the primary pollinators of flowering plants in almost all ecosystems. Worldwide declines in bee populations have raised awareness about the importance of their ecological role in maintaining ecosystem functioning. The naturally strong philopatric behavior that some bee species show can be detrimental to population viability through increased probability of inbreeding. Furthermore, bee populations found in human-altered landscapes, such as urban areas, can experience lower levels of gene flow and effective population sizes, increasing potential for inbreeding depression in wild bee populations. In this study, we investigated the fine-scale population structure of the solitary bee Colletes inaequalis in an urbanized landscape. First, we developed a predictive spatial model to detect suitable nesting habitat for this ground nesting bee and to inform our field search for nests. We genotyped 18 microsatellites in 548 female individuals collected from nest aggregations throughout the study area. Genetic relatedness estimates revealed that genetic similarity among individuals was slightly greater within nest aggregations than among randomly chosen individuals. However, genetic structure among nest aggregations was low (Nei's GST = 0.011). Reconstruction of parental genotypes revealed greater genetic relatedness among females than among males within nest aggregations, suggesting male-mediated dispersal as a potentially important mechanism of population connectivity and inbreeding avoidance. Size of nesting patch was positively correlated with effective population size, but not with other estimators of genetic diversity. We detected a positive trend between geographic distance and genetic differentiation between nest aggregations. Our landscape genetic models suggest that increased urbanization is likely associated with higher levels of inbreeding. Overall, these findings emphasize the importance of density and distribution of suitable nesting patches for enhancing bee population abundance and connectivity in human dominated habitats and highlights the critical contribution of landscape genetic studies for enhanced conservation and management of native pollinators.