Find research datasets worth reusing
Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.
858
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.9.0
Dataset results
858 results for “monitoring data”
Data from: Insights into the introduction history and population genetic dynamics of the Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) in Florida
Invasive species are widely recognized as important drivers of the ongoing biodiversity crisis. The US state of Florida is especially susceptible to the proliferation of invasive reptiles, and nonnative lizards currently outnumber native lizard species. At present, there are three documented breeding populations of the Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) in different regions of Southern Florida, and these populations are considered potential dangers to threatened, fossorial endemics, such as burrowing owls, American crocodiles, and gopher tortoises. Nevertheless, at present, both the introduction histories of these populations and the degree to which they are connected by gene flow are not known. To address these issues, we genotyped V. niloticus from Cape Coral, Homestead Air Reserve Base, and West Palm Beach at 17 microsatellite loci and conducted a variety of analyses to assess both intra-population genetic diversity, the degree of gene flow between populations, and the most likely introduction scenario. The results of our analyses demonstrate that all three populations have limited genetic diversity (mean number of effective alleles across loci in all three populations ~ 2.00) and are highly differentiated from one another (GST = 0.268; G''ST = 0.628). Our results also suggest that these populations resulted from independent introduction events that occurred within the past few decades. Consequently, we advise that wildlife managers focus management efforts on containment of existing populations and intensification of monitoring efforts on potential migration corridors.
Data from: Long-term environmental monitoring for assessment of change: measurement inconsistencies over time and potential solutions
The importance of long-term environmental monitoring and research for detecting and understanding changes in ecosystems and human impacts on natural systems is widely acknowledged. Over the last decades a number of critical components for successful long-term monitoring have been identified. One basic component is quality assurance/quality control protocols to ensure consistency and comparability of data. In Norway, the authorities require environmental monitoring of the impacts of the offshore petroleum industry on the Norwegian continental shelf, and in 1996 a large-scale regional environmental monitoring program was established. As a case study, we used a sub-set of data from this monitoring to explore concepts regarding best practices for long-term environmental monitoring. Specifically, we examined data from physical and chemical sediment samples and benthic macro-invertebrate assemblages from 11 stations from six sampling occasions during the period 1996-2011. Despite the established quality assessment and quality control protocols for this monitoring program, we identified several data challenges, such as, missing values and outliers, discrepancies in variable and station names, changes in procedures without calibration, and different taxonomic resolution. Furthermore, we show that the use of different laboratories over time makes it difficult to draw conclusions with regard to some of the observed changes. We offer recommendations to facilitate comparison of data over time. We also present a new procedure to handle different taxonomic resolution so valuable historical data is not discarded. These topics have a broader relevance and application than for our case study.
Data from: Non-invasive genetic monitoring involving citizen science enables reconstruction of current pack dynamics in a re-establishing wolf population
Background: Carnivores are re-establishing in many human-populated areas, where their presence is often contentious. Reaching consensus over management decisions is often hampered by a dispute about the size of the local carnivore population. Understanding the reproductive dynamics and individual movements of the carnivores can provide support for management decisions, but individual-level information can be difficult to obtain from elusive, wide-ranging species. Non-invasive genetic sampling can yield such information, but makes subsequent reconstruction of population history challenging due to incomplete population coverage and error-prone data. Here, we combine a collaborative, volunteer-based sampling scheme with Bayesian pedigree reconstruction to describe the pack dynamics of an establishing grey wolf (Canis lupus) population in south-west Finland, where wolf breeding was recorded in 2006 for the first time in over a century. Results: Using DNA extracted mainly from faeces collected since 2008, we identified 81 individual wolves and assigned credible full parentages to 70 of these and partial parentages to a further 9, revealing 7 breeding pairs. Individuals used a range of strategies to obtain breeding opportunities, including dispersal to established or new packs, long-distance migration and inheriting breeding roles. Gene flow occurred between all packs but inbreeding events were rare. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that characterizing ongoing pack dynamics can provide detailed, locally-relevant insight into the ecology of contentious species such as the wolf. Involving various stakeholders in data collection makes these results more likely to be accepted as unbiased and hence reliable grounds for management decisions.
Data from: Disease, predation and demography: assessing the impacts of bovine tuberculosis on African buffalo by monitoring at individual and population levels
1. Understanding the effects of disease is critical to determining appropriate management responses, but estimating those effects in wildlife species is challenging. We used bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in the African buffalo Syncerus caffer population of Kruger National Park, South Africa, as a case study to highlight the issues associated with estimating chronic disease effects in a long-lived host. 2. We used known and radiocollared buffalo, aerial census data, and a natural gradient in pathogen prevalence to investigate if: (i) at the individual level, BTB infection reduces reproduction; (ii) BTB infection increases vulnerability to predation; and (iii) at the population level, increased BTB prevalence causes reduced population growth. 3. There was only a marginal reduction in calving success associated with BTB infection, as indexed by the probability of sighting a known adult female with or without a calf ( P = 0·065). 4. Since 1991, BTB prevalence increased from 27 to 45% in the southern region and from 4 to 28% in the central region of Kruger National Park. The prevalence in the northern regions was only 1·5% in 1998. Buffalo population growth rates, however, were neither statistically different among regions nor declining over time. 5. Lions Panthera leo did not appear to preferentially kill test-positive buffalo. The best (Akaike's Information Criterion corrected for small sample size) AIC c model with BTB as a covariate [exp( β ) = 0·49; 95% CI = (0·24–1·02)] suggested that the mortality hazard for positive individuals was no greater than for test-negative individuals. 6. Synthesis and applications . Test accuracy, time-varying disease status, and movement among populations are some of the issues that make the detection of chronic disease impacts challenging. For these reasons, the demographic impacts of bovine tuberculosis in the Kruger National Park remain undetectable despite 6 years of study on known individuals and 40 years of population counts. However, the rainfall and forage conditions during this study were relatively good and the impacts of many chronic diseases may be a non-linear function of environmental conditions such that
Data from: Stock enhancement or sea ranching? Insights from monitoring the genetic diversity, relatedness and effective size in a seeded great scallop population (Pecten maximus)
The mass release of hatchery-propagated stocks raises numerous questions concerning its efficiency in terms of local recruitment and effect on the genetic diversity of wild populations. A seeding program, consisting of mass release of hatchery-produced juveniles in the local naturally occurring population of great scallops (Pecten maximus L.), was initiated in the early 1980s in the Bay of Brest (France). The present study aims at evaluating whether this seeding program leads to actual population enhancement, with detectable effects on genetic diversity and effective population size, or consists of sea ranching with limited genetic consequences on the wild stock. To address this question, microsatellite-based genetic monitoring of three hatchery-born and naturally recruited populations was conducted over a 5-year period. Results showed a limited reduction in allelic richness but a strong alteration of allelic frequencies in hatchery populations, while genetic diversity appeared very stable over time in the wild populations. A temporal increase in relatedness was observed in both cultured stock and wild populations. Effective population size (Ne) estimates were low and variable in the wild population. Moreover, the application of the Ryman-Laikre model suggested a high contribution of hatchery-born scallops to the reproductive output of the wild population. Overall, the data suggest that the main objective of the seeding program, which is stock enhancement, is fulfilled. Moreover, gene flow from surrounding populations and/or the reproductive input of undetected sub-populations within the bay may buffer the Ryman-Laikre effect and ensure the retention of the local genetic variability.
Data from: Morphological variation as a tool for monitoring bird populations: a review
This paper shows how our knowledge of the evolution, ecology and conservation of birds can be improved through the analysis of external morphological traits. After giving a short history of morphological studies of birds, we discuss the pros and cons of such data in exploring within-species variation and describe the main patterns and hypotheses related to the factors affecting bird size and shape. We describe the usefulness of external measurements (including body mass and feather morphology) of live birds for inferring population differentiation or intraspecific variation in body condition. Bird morphology monitoring is conceptually similar to other programs aimed at recording the distribution of species and their habitats. However, it has one additional advantage: the same data used to describe variation can be used to infer the processes underlying observed changes by testing geographical or ecomorphological predictions. Morphological approaches may be implemented in the context of national ringing schemes, in which thousands of birds are measured each year. They may be particularly illustrative in bird species with populations distributed between regions of contrasting ecology, or wherever man-made environmental stressors affect bird populations.
Data from: Butterfly abundance declines over 20 years of systematic monitoring in Ohio, USA
Severe insect declines make headlines, but they are rarely based on systematic monitoring outside of Europe. We estimate the rate of change in total butterfly abundance and the population trends for 81 species using 21 years of systematic monitoring in Ohio, USA. Total abundance is declining at 2% per year, resulting in a cumulative 33% reduction in butterfly abundance. Three times as many species have negative population trends compared to positive trends. The rate of total decline and the proportion of species in decline mirror those documented in three comparable long-term European monitoring programs. Multiple environmental changes such as climate change, habitat degradation, and agricultural practices may contribute to these declines in Ohio and shift the makeup of the butterfly community by benefiting some species over others. Our analysis of life-history traits associated with population trends shows an impact of climate change, as species with northern distributions and fewer annual generations declined more rapidly. However, even common and invasive species associated with human-dominated landscapes are declining, suggesting widespread environmental causes for these trends. Declines in common species, although they may not be close to extinction, will have an outsized impact on the ecosystem services provided by insects. These results from the most extensive, systematic insect monitoring programs in North America demonstrate an ongoing defaunation in butterflies that on an annual scale might be imperceptible, but cumulatively has reduced butterfly numbers by a third over 20 years.
Data from: Persistent near real-time passive acoustic monitoring for baleen whales from a moored buoy: system description and evaluation
1. Managing interactions between human activities and marine mammals often relies on an understanding of the real-time distribution or occurrence of animals. Visual surveys typically cannot provide persistent monitoring because of expense and weather limitations, and while passive acoustic recorders can monitor continuously, the data they collect are often not accessible until the recorder is recovered. 2. We have developed a moored passive acoustic monitoring system that provides near real-time occurrence estimates for humpback, sei, fin, and North Atlantic right whales from a single site for a year, and makes those occurrence estimates available via a publicly accessible website, email and text messages, a smartphone/tablet app, and the U.S. Coast Guard's maritime domain awareness software. We evaluated this system using a buoy deployed off the coast of Massachusetts during 2015-2016 and redeployed again during 2016-2017. Near real-time estimates of whale occurrence were compared to simultaneously collected archived audio as well as whale sightings collected near the buoy by aerial surveys. 3. False detection rates for right, humpback, and sei whales were 0% and nearly 0% for fin whales, while missed detection rates at daily time scales were modest (12-42%). Missed detections were significantly associated with low calling rates for all species. We observed strong associations between right whale visual sightings and near real-time acoustic detections over a monitoring range of 30-40 km and temporal scales of 24-48 hours, suggesting that silent animals were not especially problematic for estimating occurrence of right whales in the study area. There was no association between acoustic detections and visual sightings of humpback whales. 4. The moored buoy has been used to reduce the risk of ship strikes for right whales in a U.S. Coast Guard gunnery range, and can be applied to other mitigation applications.
Data from: Challenges of NGS in conservation management: insights from long-term monitoring of corridor effects on the genetic diversity of mouse lemurs in a fragmented landscape
Long-term genetic monitoring of populations is essential for efforts aimed at preserving genetic diversity of endangered species. Here, we employ a framework of long-term genetic monitoring to evaluate the effects of fragmentation and the effectiveness of the establishment of corridors in restoring population connectivity and genetic diversity of mouse lemurs Micocebus ganzhorni. To this end, we supplement estimates of neutral genetic diversity with the assessment of adaptive genetic variability of the MHC. In addition, we address the challenges of long-term genetic monitoring of functional diversity by comparing the genotyping performance and estimates of MHC variability generated by SSCP/Sanger-sequencing with those obtained by high throughput sequencing (NGS, Illumina), an issue that is particularly relevant when previous work serves as a baseline for planning management strategies that aim to ensure the viability of a population. We report that SSCP greatly underestimates individual diversity and that discrepancies in estimates of MHC diversity attributable to the comparisons of traditional and NGS genotyping techniques can influence the conclusions drawn from conservation management scenarios. Evidence of migration among fragments in Mandena suggests that mouse lemurs are robust to the process of fragmentation and that the effect of corridors is masked by ongoing gene flow. Nonetheless, results based on a larger number of shared private alleles at neutral loci between fragment pairs found after the establishment of corridors in Mandena suggest that gene flow is augmented as a result of enhanced connectivity. Our data points out that despite low effective population size, M. ganzhorni maintains high individual heterozygosity at neutral loci and at MHC II DRB gene and that selection plays a predominant role in maintaining MHC diversity. These findings highlight the importance of long-term genetic monitoring in order to disentangle between the processes of drift and selection maintaining adaptive genetic diversity in small populations.
Data from: AudioMoth: evaluation of a smart open acoustic device for monitoring biodiversity and the environment
1. The cost, usability and power efficiency of available wildlife monitoring equipment currently inhibits full ground-level coverage of many natural systems. Developments over the last decade in technology, open science, and the sharing economy promise to bring global access to more versatile and more affordable monitoring tools, to improve coverage for conservation researchers and managers. 2. Here we describe the development and proof-of-concept of a low-cost, small-sized and low-energy acoustic detector: 'AudioMoth'. The device is open-source and programmable, with diverse applications for recording animal calls or human activity at sample rates of up to 384kHz. We briefly outline two ongoing real-world case studies of large-scale, long-term monitoring for biodiversity and exploitation of natural resources. These studies demonstrate the potential for AudioMoth to enable a substantial shift away from passive continuous recording by individual devices, towards smart detection by networks of devices flooding large and inaccessible ecosystems. 3. The case studies demonstrate one of the smart capabilities of AudioMoth, to trigger event logging on the basis of classification algorithms that identify specific acoustic events. An algorithm to trigger recordings of the New Forest cicada (Cicadetta montana) demonstrates the potential for AudioMoth to vastly improve the spatial and temporal coverage of surveys for the presence of cryptic animals. An algorithm for logging gunshot events has potential to identify a shotgun blast in tropical rainforest at distances of up to 500 m, extending to 1km with continuous recording. 4. AudioMoth is more energy efficient than currently available passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) devices, giving it considerably greater portability and longevity in the field with smaller batteries. At a build cost of ~US$43 per unit, AudioMoth has potential for varied applications in large-scale, long-term acoustic surveys. With continuing developments in smart, energy-efficient algorithms and diminishing component costs, we are approaching the milestone of local communities being able to afford to remotely monitor their own natural resources.
Data from: Monitoring the effective population size of a brown bear (Ursus arctos) population using new single-sample approaches
The effective population size (Ne) could be the ideal parameter for monitoring populations of conservation concern as it conveniently summarizes both the evolutionary potential of the population and its sensitivity to genetic stochasticity. However, tracing its change through time is difficult in natural populations. We applied four new methods for estimating Ne from a single sample of genotypes to trace temporal change in Ne for bears in the Northern Dinaric Mountains. We genotyped 510 bears using 20 microsatellite loci, and determined their age. The samples were organized into cohorts with regard to the year when the animals were born and yearly samples with age categories for every year when they were alive. We used the Estimator by Parentage Assignment (EPA) to directly estimate both Ne and generation interval for each yearly sample. For cohorts, we estimated the effective number of breeders (Nb) using Linkage Disequilibrium, Sibship Assignment and Approximate Bayesian Computation methods, and extrapolated these estimates to Ne using the generation interval. The Ne estimate by EPA is 276 (183-350 95% CI), meeting the inbreeding-avoidance criterion of Ne > 50 but short of the long-term minimum viable population goal of Ne > 500. The results obtained by the other methods are highly consistent with this result, and all indicate a rapid increase in Ne probably in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The new single-sample approaches to estimation of Ne provide efficient means for including Ne in monitoring frameworks, and will be of great importance for future management and conservation.
Data from: Genetic monitoring and complex population dynamics: insights from a 12-year study of the Rio Grande silvery minnow
The endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow persists as a remnant population in a highly fragmented and regulated arid-land river system. The species is subject to dramatic fluctuations in density. Since 2003, the wild population has been supplemented by hatchery-reared fish. We report on a 12-year (1999 – 2010) monitoring study of genetic diversity and effective population size (Ne) of wild and hatchery stocks. Our goals were to evaluate how genetic metrics responded to changes in wild fish density and whether they corresponded to the number and levels of diversity of hatchery-reared repatriates. Genetic diversity and all measures of Ne in the wild population did not correlate with wild fish density until hatchery supplementation began in earnest. Estimates of variance and inbreeding effective size were not correlated. Our results suggest source-sink dynamics where captive stocks form a genetically diverse source and the wild population behaves as a sink. Nevertheless, overall genetic diversity of silvery minnow has been maintained over the last decade and we attribute this to a well designed and executed propagation management plan. When multiple factors like environmental fluctuation and hatchery supplementation act simultaneously on a population, interpretation of genetic monitoring data may be equally complex and require considerable ecological data.
Data from: The roles of joint tissues and jaw muscles in palatal biomechanics of the Savannah monitor (Varanus exanthematicus) and their significance for cranial kinesis
Many vertebrates exhibit cranial kinesis, or movement between bones of the skull other than at the jaw joint. Many kinetic species possess a particular suite of features to accomplish this movement, including flexible cranial joints and protractor musculature. Whereas the skeletal anatomy of these kinetic systems is well understood, how these joints are biomechanically loaded, how different soft tissues affect joint loading and kinetic capacity, and how the protractor musculature loads the skull remain poorly understood. Here we developed a Finite Element Model of the savannah monitor, Varanus exanthematicus, a modestly kinetic lizard, to better elucidate the roles of soft tissue in mobile joints and protractor musculature on cranial loading. We described the 3D resultants of jaw muscles and histology of palatobasal, otic and jaw joints. We tested the effects of joint tissue types, bite point, and muscle loads to evaluate the biomechanical role of muscles have on the palate and braincase. We found the jaw muscles have significant mediolateral components and resultants that can impart stability across palatocranial joints. We found articular tissues affect the magnitude of strains experienced across the palatobasal and otic joints. We found that without protractor muscle loading, the palate, quadrate and braincase experience higher strains suggesting this muscle helps insulate the braincase and palatoquadrate from high loads. Finally, we found the cross-sectional properties of the bones of Varanus exanthematicus is well suited for performing under torsional loads. These findings suggest that torsion may be a significant driver in the evolution of cranial kinesis in lepidosaurs.
Data from: Systematic site selection for multispecies monitoring networks
The importance of monitoring biodiversity to detect and understand changes throughout time and to inform management is increasingly recognized. Monitoring schemes should be globally unified, spatially integrated across scales, long term, and cost-efficient. We propose a framework to design optimized multispecies-targeted monitoring networks over large areas. The method builds upon previous developments on systematic conservation planning in terms of optimizing resource allocation in space, and comprises seven steps: (a) determine which questions will be addressed, (b) define species to be monitored, (c) compile occurrence data for all defined species, (d) predict the overall distribution of each species, (e) collect relevant environmental data and identify homogeneous strata, (f) set targets for the minimum number of monitoring sites per species and/or stratum and (g) identify optimal monitoring sites. We tested whether the monitoring networks designed with our framework have increased performance when compared to networks obtained with simple-random or stratified-random sampling by using a set of different indicators. To that end, we designed monitoring networks using optimized and non-optimized sampling schemes, applied to a case study in Portugal, where the goal was to design a monitoring network for amphibians and reptiles, to complement the one currently established in Spain. Results allowed us to conclude that monitoring networks designed with our method tend to outperform the non-optimized ones, in terms of higher species diversity (i.e. higher number of species and equity across monitoring sites), higher representation of environmental strata, and particularly higher coverage of rare species, with less survey effort. Synthesis and applications. We developed a framework to allocate monitoring sites for multiple species at broad scales using predictive models and optimization algorithms currently applied in systematic conservation planning. This framework presents field survey cost-efficiency advantages when compared to other standard sampling designs and can significantly contribute to improving the design of monitoring schemes. Thus, we recommend its application to design new multispecies monitoring networks or to extend existing ones.
Data from: Environmental monitoring through protist NGS metabarcoding: assessing the impact of fish farming on benthic foraminifera communities
The measurement of species diversity represents a powerful tool for assessing the impacts of human activities on marine ecosystems. Traditionally, the impact of fish farming on the coastal environment is evaluated by monitoring the dynamics of macrobenthic infaunal populations. However, taxonomic sorting and morphology-based identification of the macrobenthos demands highly trained specialists and is extremely time-consuming and costly, what makes it unsuitable for large-scale biomonitoring efforts involving numerous samples. Here, we propose to alleviate this laborious task by developing protist metabarcoding tools based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) of environmental DNA and RNA extracted from sediment samples. In this study, we analysed the response of benthic foraminiferal communities to the variation of environmental gradients associated with salmon farms in Scotland. We investigated the foraminiferal diversity based on ribosomal minibarcode sequences generated by the Illumina NGS technology. We compared the molecular data with morphospecies counts and with environmental gradients, including distance to cages and Redox used as a proxy for sediment oxygenation. Our study revealed high variations between foraminiferal communities collected in the vicinity of fish farms and at distant locations. We found evidence for alpha diversity loss in strongly impacted sites, especially visible in the RNA data. We also detected some candidate bioindicator foraminiferal species. Based on this proof-of-concept study, we conclude that NGS metabarcoding using foraminifera and other protists has considerable potential to become a new tool for surveying the impact of aquaculture and other industrial activities in the marine environment.
Data from: DIY meteorology: use of citizen science to monitor snow dynamics in a data-sparse city
Cities are under pressure to operate their services effectively and project costs of operations across various timeframes. In high-latitude and high-altitude urban centers, snow management is one of the larger unknowns and has both operational and budgetary limitations. Snowfall and snow depth observations within urban environments are important to plan snow clearing and prepare for the effects of spring runoff on cities' drainage systems. In-house research functions are expensive, but one way to overcome that expense and still produce effective data is through citizen science. In this paper, we examine the potential to use citizen science for snowfall data collection in urban environments. A group of volunteers measured daily snowfall and snow depth at an urban site in Saskatoon (Canada) during two winters. Reliability was assessed with a statistical consistency analysis and a comparison with other data sets collected around Saskatoon. We found that citizen-science-derived data were more reliable and relevant for many urban management stakeholders. Feedback from the participants demonstrated reflexivity about social learning and a renewed sense of community built around generating reliable and useful data. We conclude that citizen science holds great potential to improve data provision for effective and sustainable city planning and greater social learning benefits overall.
Data from: Pollination on the dark side: acoustic monitoring reveals impacts of a total solar eclipse on flight behavior and activity schedule of foraging bees
The total solar eclipse of 21 August 2017 traversed ~5000 km from coast to coast of North America. In its 90-min span, sunlight dropped by three orders of magnitude and temperature by 10–15°C. To investigate impacts of these changes on bee (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) pollinators, we monitored their flights acoustically in natural habitats of Pacific Coast, Rocky Mountain, and Midwest regions. Temperature changes during the eclipse had little impact on bee activity. Most of the explained variation (R2) in buzzing rate was attributable to changes in light intensity. Bees ceased flying during complete darkness at totality, but flight activity was unaffected by dim light in partial phases before and after totality. Flights of bees during partial phases of the eclipse lasted longer than flights made under full sun, showing that behavioral plasticity matched bee flight properties to changes in light intensity during the eclipse. Efforts of citizen scientists, including hundreds of school children, contributed to the scope and educational impact of this study.
Data from: Discovery of 20,000 RAD–SNPs and development of a 52-SNP array for monitoring river otters
Many North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) populations are threatened or recovering but are difficult to study because they occur at low densities, it is difficult to visually identify individuals, and they inhabit aquatic environments that accelerate degradation of biological samples. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can improve our ability to monitor demographic and genetic parameters of difficult to study species. We used restriction site associated DNA (RAD) sequencing to discover 20,772 SNPs present in Montana, USA, river otter populations, including 14,512 loci that were also variable in at least one other population range-wide. After applying careful filtering criteria meant to minimize ascertainment bias and identify high quality, highly heterozygous (H o = 0.2–0.50) SNPs, we developed and tested 52 independent SNP qPCR genotyping assays, including 41 that performed well with diluted DNA. The 41 loci provided high power for population assignment tests with only 1 misassignment (1.6 %) between closely neighboring populations. Our SNPs showed high power to differentiate individuals and assign them to population of origin, as well as strong concordance of genotypes from high and diluted concentrations of DNA, and between original RAD and the SNP qPCR array.
Data from: Long-term genetic monitoring reveals contrasting changes in the genetic composition of newly established populations of the intertidal snail Bembicium vittatum
Newly established populations are susceptible to founder events that reduce genetic variation. This may be counterbalanced by gene flow after populations become established or founders coming from genetically different populations. However, initial gains in genetic diversity may be short-lived if there is limited mixing between lineages and subsequent inbreeding or if one lineage sweeps to fixation through selection or genetic drift. Here, we report on the genetic changes taking place within two newly established populations of intertidal snail over a 15-year period (~ 10 generations). Each translocation was set up using multiple, genetically distinct source populations. Our data show that higher levels of variation in the translocated populations compared to the source populations were maintained over time for both nuclear (microsatellite) and mitochondrial genes. Small changes in allele and haplotype frequencies were observed in the source populations and in one of the translocated populations, but marked changes were evident in the other, where there was a dramatic shift towards the genetic make-up of one of the source populations. These genetic changes occurred despite relatively large numbers of founders (200- 374 adults) and no evidence of the population experiencing a severe reduction in effective population size. Our study shows that the genetic composition of newly established populations can vary greatly over time and that genetic outcomes can be highly variable, and significantly different to expectations, even when they are established using high numbers of individuals and involve source populations from the same geographic regions.
Data from: Random versus game trail-based camera trap placement strategy for monitoring terrestrial mammal communities
Camera trap surveys exclusively targeting features of the landscape that increase the probability of photographing one or several focal species are commonly used to draw inferences on the richness, composition and structure of entire mammal communities. However, these studies ignore expected biases in species detection arising from sampling only a limited set of potential habitat features. In this study, we test the influence of camera trap placement strategy on community-level inferences by carrying out two spatially and temporally concurrent surveys of medium to large terrestrial mammal species within Tanzania's Ruaha National Park, employing either strictly game trail-based or strictly random camera placements. We compared the richness, composition and structure of the two observed communities, and evaluated what makes a species significantly more likely to be caught at trail placements. Observed communities differed marginally in their richness and composition, although differences were more noticeable during the wet season and for low levels of sampling effort. Lognormal models provided the best fit to rank abundance distributions describing the structure of all observed communities, regardless of survey type or season. Despite this, carnivore species were more likely to be detected at trail placements relative to random ones during the dry season, as were larger bodied species during the wet season. Our findings suggest that, given adequate sampling effort (> 1400 camera trap nights), placement strategy is unlikely to affect inferences made at the community level. However, surveys should consider more carefully their choice of placement strategy when targeting specific taxonomic or trophic groups.
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.