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.
85
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.7.1
Dataset results
85 results for “trophic cascade”
Dataset on how mesopredator-mediated trophic cascade can break persistent phytoplankton blooms in coastal waters
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Local adaptation in trait-mediated trophic cascades dataset
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Behavioral responses across a mosaic of ecosystem states restructure a sea otter-urchin trophic cascade
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: A continental scale trophic cascade from wolves through coyotes to foxes
Top-down processes, via the direct and indirect effects of interspecific competitive killing (no consumption of the kill) or intraguild predation (consumption of the kill), can potentially influence the spatial distribution of terrestrial predators, but few studies have demonstrated the phenomenon at a continental scale. For example, in North America, grey wolves (Canis lupus) are known to kill coyotes (Canis latrans), and coyotes, in turn, may kill foxes (Vulpes spp.), but the spatial effects of these competitive interactions at large scales are unknown. Here, we analyse fur return data across eight jurisdictions in North America to test whether the presence or absence of wolves has caused a continent-wide shift in coyote and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) density. Our results support the existence of a continental scale cascade whereby coyotes outnumber red foxes in areas where wolves have been extirpated by humans, whereas red foxes outnumber coyotes in areas where wolves are present. However, for a distance of up to 200 km on the edge of wolf distribution, there is a transition zone where the effects of top-down control are weakened, possibly due to the rapid dispersal and reinvasion capabilities of coyotes into areas where wolves are sporadically distributed or at low densities. Our results have implications for understanding how the restoration of wolf populations across North America could potentially affect co-occurring predators and prey. We conclude that large carnivores may need to occupy large continuous areas to facilitate among-carnivore cascades and that studies of small areas may not be indicative of the effects of top-down mesopredator control.
Data from: Predators indirectly induce stronger prey through a trophic cascade
Many prey species induce defences in direct response to predation cues. However, prey defences could also be enhanced by predators indirectly via mechanisms that increase resource availability to prey, e.g. trophic cascades. We evaluated the relative impacts of these direct and indirect effects on the mechanical strength of the New Zealand sea urchin Evechinus chloroticus. We measured crush-resistance of sea urchin tests (skeletons) in (i) two marine reserves, where predators of sea urchins are relatively common and have initiated a trophic cascade resulting in abundant food for surviving urchins in the form of kelp, and (ii) two adjacent fished areas where predators and kelps are rare. Sea urchins inhabiting protected rocky reefs with abundant predators and food had more crush-resistant tests than individuals on nearby fished reefs where predators and food were relatively rare. A six-month long mesocosm experiment showed that while both food supply and predator cues increased crush-resistance, the positive effect of food supply on crush-resistance was greater. Our results demonstrate a novel mechanism whereby a putative morphological defence in a prey species is indirectly strengthened by predators via cascading predator effects on resource availability. This potentially represents an important mechanism that promotes prey persistence in the presence of predators.
Data from: Shorebirds-driven trophic cascade helps restore coastal wetland multifunctionality
<p>Ecosystem restoration has traditionally focused on re-establishing vegetation and other foundation species at basal trophic levels, with mixed outcomes. Here, we show that threatened shorebirds could be important to restoring coastal wetland multifunctionality. We carried out surveys and manipulative field experiments in a region along the Yellow Sea affected by the invasive cordgrass Spartina alterniflora. We found that planting native plants alone failed to restore wetland multifunctionality in a field restoration experiment. Shorebird exclusion weakened wetland multifunctionality, whereas mimicking higher predation before shorebird population declines by excluding their key prey – crab grazers – enhanced wetland multifunctionality. The mechanism underlying these effects is a simple trophic cascade, whereby shorebirds control crab grazers that otherwise suppress native vegetation recovery and destabilize sediments (via bioturbation). Our findings suggest that harnessing the top-down effects of shorebirds – through habitat conservation, rewilding, or temporary simulation of consumptive or non-consumptive effects – should be explored as a nature-based solution to restoring the multifunctionality of degraded coastal wetlands. </p><p> </p><p>This ZIP file contains the following datasets and code for the above paper:</p><p>1. Focal study site_shorebird trends.xlsx This file contains data on shorebird abundance at the focal study site between 1996 and 2021</p><p>2. Regional crab grazing effects.xlsx This file contains data used in the meta-analysis of studies on the effect of crab grazers on native wetland plants</p><p>3. Regional predation intensity.xlsx This file contains data on shorebird predation on crabs at five native marsh sites</p><p>4. Restoration experiment_bird abundance.xlsx This file contains data on bird abundance in three camera traps installed at the restoration site</p><p>5. Restoration experiment_bird species richness.xlsx This file contains data on bird species richness in three camera traps installed at the restoration site</p><p>6. Restoration experiment_crab abundance.xlsx This file contains data on crab abundance in different treatments of the restoration experiment</p><p>7. Restoration experiment_ecosystem functions.xlsx This file contains data for the 12 ecosystem functions measured in different treatments of the restoration experiment</p><p>8. Restoration experiment_for meta-regression of bird effect sizes on crab abundance This file contains the calculated effect sizes of birds on crab abundance for meta-regression against bird abundance</p><p>9. Restoration experiment_for regression of ecosystem functions This file contains data for regression of ecosystem functions and multifunctionality against crab abundance and primary production </p><p>10. Restoration experiment_plant abundance.xlsx This file contains data on plant abundance in different treatments of the restoration experiment</p><p>11. Restoration experiment_predation intensity.xlsx This file contains data on shorebird predation on tethered crabs in different treatments of the restoration experiment</p><p>12. Restoration experiment_the rate of plant abundance change.xlsx This file contains data on the rate of plant abundance change in different treatments of the restoration experiment </p><p>13. Shorebird non-consumptive effects experiment.xlsx This file contains data on crab abundance in different treatments of the shorebird non-consumptive effects simulation experiment</p><p>14. Code_Li_Shorebirds_Ms.R This file contains the R code used for data analysis. </p>
Data from: Boom and bust: The effects of masting on seed predator range dynamics and trophic cascades
<p><strong>Aim: </strong>Spatiotemporal variation in resource availability is a strong driver of animal distributions. In northern hardwood and boreal forests of the northeastern United States, tree mast events provide resource pulses that drive the population dynamics of small mammals, including the American red squirrel (<em>Tamiasciurus hudsonicus</em>), a primary songbird nest predator. This study sought to determine whether mast availability ameliorates their abiotic limits, enabling red squirrel elevational distributions to temporarily expand and negatively impact high elevation songbirds.</p> <p><strong>Location: </strong>Northeastern United States</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> We used two independent datasets to evaluate our hypotheses. First, we fit a dynamic occupancy model using data from camera trap surveys to evaluate red squirrel distributional responses to pulses in tree mast. We also assessed population responses using systematic auditory surveys analyzed with an open-population binomial mixture model. Further, we used modeled red squirrel abundance in nest-survival models to evaluate whether their abundance is correlated with daily nest survival of three songbird species.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> Tree mast provided a critical resource pulse that resulted in a two-fold increase in the annual elevational distribution of red squirrels. The elevational distribution of red squirrels ranged from a minimum of ~450 m (range: 663 – 1145 m asl) following two consecutive years without a masting event to a maximum of over 1000 m (range: 443 – 1545 m asl) after a large mast event. Daily nest survival of three songbird species tended to decline with an increase in the abundance of red squirrels.</p> <p><strong>Main Conclusions:</strong> Tree mast is a central biological phenomenon in many temperate and boreal forests. This study reveals how this resource pulse results in range changes in a small mammal that is both a seed and bird predator, as well as prey for many carnivores. Thus, understanding this phenomenon can inform the conservation and management of northern forests, including breeding songbirds.</p>
Data from: Short-term, low-level nitrogen deposition dampens a trophic cascade between bears and plants
Human activities have substantially increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition in ecosystems worldwide, often leading to higher plant quality for herbivores and greater herbivory. Predators frequently suppress herbivores and indirectly benefit plants via 'trophic cascades', and the strength of these interactions can also depend on N availability. However, the evidence for N deposition effects on cascades primarily comes from studies of high-level N deposition. Most terrestrial ecosystems currently receive elevated, but low-level N deposition, and it is unclear whether this subtle N enrichment has any effect on cascades. Here, I asked whether low-level N deposition alters a trophic cascade from black bears to plants in Colorado. In this ecological network, bears indirectly benefit plants by consuming ants and suppressing positive effects of ants on herbivores. Using a three year N enrichment experiment, I assessed changes in this cascade by measuring plant and arthropod responses to simulated N deposition, bear damage to ant nests, and the presence of mutualist herbivores and ants. I found that low-level N enrichment and bears had interacting effects on plant reproduction. In ambient N conditions, bears indirectly increased plant reproduction by causing ant nests to become inactive and suppressing positive ant effects on herbivores that were detrimental for plants. Yet, bear-induced ant nest inactivity had no effect on plant reproduction in N-enriched conditions. When N was added, ants had greater positive effects on herbivores, but herbivores had weak effects on plants, potentially because plants were more resistant to herbivores. Ultimately, the results indicate that N enrichment strengthened resource control of the community and weakened plant-herbivore interactions and the cascade from bears to plants. This study suggests that common rates of low-level N deposition are changing the strength of trophic cascades and may have already altered resource vs. consumer control of ecological community structure in many ecosystems.
Data from: Boom and bust: The effects of masting on seed predator range dynamics and trophic cascades
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Predators indirectly induce stronger prey through a trophic cascade
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Short-term, low-level nitrogen deposition dampens a trophic cascade between bears and plants
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Trophic cascades in the bryosphere: The impact of global change factors on top-down control of cyanobacterial N2-fixation
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Mapping habitats in a marine reserve showed how a 30-year trophic cascade altered ecosystem structure
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: In situ warming strengthens trophic cascades in a coastal food web
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Temporal isolation between sympatric host plants cascades across multiple trophic levels of host-associated insects
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Multiple predator species alter prey behavior, population growth and a trophic cascade in a model estuarine food web
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: A continental scale trophic cascade from wolves through coyotes to foxes
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Plant Biomass data from: Bottom-up Herbivore-Plant Feedbacks Trump Trophic Cascades in a Wolf-Elk-Grassland System
<p>Top-down predator-prey effects that alter the abundance, biomass, or productivity of a population community across more than one link in a food web are referred to as trophic cascades. While these effects have been extensively studied in aquatic environments, fewer studies have examined trophic cascades in terrestrial ecosystems. And fewer still terrestrial studies have tested for trophic cascades between vertebrates and grassland vegetation. Across the globe, grassland plant biomass is driven by both precipitation and non-linear positive feedbacks between grazing and plant productivity, as predicted by the Intermediate Grazing Hypothesis. Yet little is known about the role that apex carnivores play in regard to trophic impacts on grassland biomass. We utilized a long-term dataset collected over the last two decades on a montane rough-fescue grassland adjacent to Banff National Park, Alberta, to test whether top-down effects regulate grassland biomass in a wolf-elk system. First, we measured annual growing season plant biomass from 2006 – 2018 at 61 repeat sampled plots in the grassland. Next, we measured wolf predation risk using a previously developed wolf resource selection function created from GPS radiocollar data from 5 wolf packs. Finally, we measured grazing intensity using Brownian Bridge Movement Models derived from GPS radiocollar data from 131 unique elk. We then tested top-down, bottom-up and abiotic hypotheses for grassland biomass over time in program R. The top model incorporated precipitation and positive non-linear effects of elk use, excluding predator effects and thus failing to support the trophic cascade hypothesis. This may be due to the observational nature of this study, or predation effects in this system may be obscured by human use. Alternatively, our results also support the hypothesis that intermediate grazing may outweigh the benefits of predation in grassland systems. Our study serves to help fill a gap in trophic cascade literature, and emphasizes that positive feedback between grazers and grasslands may trump top-down effects. Understanding when trophic cascade theory is or is not applicable is vital for carnivore management, conservation, and reintroduction efforts across North America.</p>
Data from: Subsidy type and quality determine direction and strength of trophic cascades in arthropod food web in agro‐ecosystems
1. The subsidy hypothesis states that communities receiving nutrient subsidies will demonstrate top-down trophic cascades where predators indirectly increase plant biomass. This has been both confirmed and refuted, which might depend on whether the subsidy has mainly targeted the plant or the detrital food-web compartment, and on the subsidy quality. This is particularly poorly understood for terrestrial communities such as heavily subsidized agroecosystems. 2. Using cages covering 4 m2 of ground in a long-term agricultural fertilisation experiment, we tested whether subsidies targeting the detrital soil meso-fauna compartment with organic fertilisers, or the plants with mineral fertiliser, impacted the direction and strength of trophic cascades in an arthropod-plant food-web. We expected top-down controls of generalist arthropod predators (spiders, ground and rove beetles) on aphid densities to be stronger in organically fertilised plots due to enhanced alternative prey availability in the soil. Bottom-up control from barley quality on aphids was anticipated to be stronger in the mineral treatments. We examined how the quality (decomposability) of the organic subsidy governed the cascades by comparing treatments with labile (manure) and recalcitrant (hay) organic matter. 3. Top-down forces dominated in food-webs receiving organic subsidies, while bottom-up forces dominated under mineral fertilisation. A high quality, easily degradable organic subsidy propagated faster through the food-chain, leading to a top-down trophic cascade with generalist predators having a positive effect on plant biomass in the labile but not in the recalcitrant organic treatment. 4. Synthesis and applications: Management of agricultural soils that bolster the soil meso-fauna, e.g. adding organic fertilisers, has potential to increase top-down biological control by naturally occurring generalist arthropod predators. Barley biomass was enhanced in the manure treatment in the presence of arthropod predators to a level comparable to that of mineral fertiliser.
Data from: Removal of an apex predator initiates a trophic cascade that extends from herbivores to vegetation and the soil nutrient pool
It is widely assumed that organisms at low trophic levels, particularly microbes and plants, are essential to basic services in ecosystems, such as nutrient cycling. In theory, apex predators' effects on ecosystems could extend to nutrient cycling and the soil nutrient pool by influencing the intensity and spatial organization of herbivory. Here, we take advantage of a long-term manipulation of dingo abundance across Australia's dingo-proof fence in the Strzelecki Desert to investigate the effects that removal of an apex predator has on herbivore abundance, vegetation and the soil nutrient pool. Results showed that kangaroos were more abundant where dingoes were rare, and effects of kangaroo exclusion on vegetation, and total carbon, total nitrogen and available phosphorus in the soil were marked where dingoes were rare, but negligible where dingoes were common. By showing that a trophic cascade resulting from an apex predator's lethal effects on herbivores extends to the soil nutrient pool, we demonstrate a hitherto unappreciated pathway via which predators can influence nutrient dynamics. A key implication of our study is the vast spatial scale across which apex predators' effects on herbivore populations operate and, in turn, effects on the soil nutrient pool and ecosystem productivity could become manifest.
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.