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openOpenApr 2009View details →

Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest: Weekly TDR measurments at core upland and floodplain sites.

Weekly measurements of soil moisture detected with Time Domain Reflectometry using a TRASE TDR system that was operated from 1992 through 2002.

openOpenApr 2010View details →

Spatial patterns of understory vegetation and soil in an Alaskan upland boreal forest fire chronosequence. Three sites located in Delta Junction Alaska. Soil sampled during summer 2007

In this study we used geostatistics to characterize the spatial heterogeneity of soil carbon and nitrogen pools, microbial respiration, microbial biomass, nitrogen mineralization, soil moisture, soil pH, depth of organic horizon and forest floor covers and understory vegetation abundances in three sites (1999, 1987 and 1920 wildfires) of a boreal forest chronosequence of Interior Alaska (near Delta Junction). Soil sampling and vegetation measurements occured during summer 2007.

openOpenDec 2012View details →

MODIS annual maximum NDVI for Tanana-Yukon Uplands Ecoregion from 2000-2012

This dataset contains maximum NDVI from the MODIS sensor onboard Aqua and Terra satellites. The NDVI has been filtered to contain only NDVI values exceeding 0.4 which typically represent vegetated pixels in the boreal region of Alaska. Scaling factor of 10,000 was applied to convert 4-byte floating point to 2-byte integer NDVI values (for example 0.4 to 40000,0.9 to 9000)

openOpenApr 2013View details →

Eight Mile Lake Research Watershed, Thaw Gradient Extended sites: Physical data from land cover classes from an upland watershed undergoing permafrost thaw.

This data set contains meausrements of soil properties (depth to permafrost and depth of organc matter) from sites throughout the wathershed within certain land cover types identified by an unsupervised landcover classification. The purpose was to see how land cover classes differed in soil properties and if we could detect diffences in classes undergoing permafrost thaw that results in thermokarst.

openOpenApr 2013View details →

Eight Mile Lake Research Watershed, Thaw Gradient Extended sites: Vegetation data from land cover classes from an upland watershed undergoing permafrost thaw.

This data set contains meausrements ofpercent of ground cover (vegetation, water, bare soil) from sites throughout the wathershed within certain land cover types identified by an unsupervised landcover classification. The purpose was to see how land cover classes differed in soil properties and if we could detect diffences in classes undergoing permafrost thaw that results in thermokarst.

opencc-zeroFeb 2024View details →

Data from: Upland Sandpipers select for later time since fire and experience high nest survival in grasslands managed with patch-burn grazing

Upland Sandpipers (Bartramia longicauda) are a grassland obligate shorebird that nests in dense vegetation structure near recently disturbed areas and could benefit from management practices that promote heterogenous vegetation structure. Although, Upland Sandpipers primary breeding range is generally managed for livestock production using traditional practices that lack patchy disturbances to facilitate higher levels of structural heterogeneity. Patch-burn grazing (PBG) could be an alternative management practice for Upland Sandpiper conservation for its ability to create areas of dense vegetation structure near recently disturbed areas. However, limited information is available regarding nest production of Upland Sandpipers within a PBG framework. To assess the compatibility of PBG with Upland Sandpiper conservation, we estimated nest site selection and survival of Upland Sandpiper nests on private lands managed with PBG in the unglaciated plains region of North Dakota. We located 59 nests from 2017–2020. Upland Sandpipers avoided 1 year since fire (YSF) patches and selected for 2 and 3 YSF patches for nest sites. Additionally, nest site selection decreased with increased bare ground and at intermediate distances to the nearest Upland Sandpiper nest. Upland Sandpipers experienced high overall nest survival during the study with 51 of 59 nests successfully hatching, which limited our ability to make inferences between daily survival rates and variables of interest. Our findings suggest that PBG can provide suitable nesting cover for Upland Sandpipers in later YSF patches despite annual prescribed fire and livestock grazing during the nesting season. PBG seems a suitable grassland management strategy that should be included in conservation planning within Upland Sandpiper's breeding distribution.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2024View details →

Woodland expansion and upland management strategy dilemmas for biodiversity and carbon storage in the Cairngorms National Park

datatsets and R scripts related to the analysis done in the research project "impact of woodlands restoration and restriction of fire use in the Cairngorms National Park".

opencc-zeroMar 2024View details →

Data from: Drivers of intra-individual spatial variability in methane emissions from tree trunks in upland forest

CH4 emissions from tree trunks in upland forests should be scaled accurately in order to assess the role of tree trunks in the forest CH4 budget. As the chambers used to measure emissions cover only a small part of the tree trunks, it is necessary to understand the intra-individual spatial variability in trunk CH4 emissions. We measured trunk CH4 flux at nine locations per individual on four trees in a cool-temperate upland forest. To appreciate the origin of this variability and the underlying processes, we also measured the potential rate of CH4 production and CH4 concentration at sapwood and characterized wood and bark. Up to 15-fold spatial variation in CH4 fluxes were observed at the individual level. This variability can be highlighted by the variation in the sapwood CH4 concentration which was further explained by the variation in CH4 production rate. The radial CH4 diffusivity calculated from concentration gradients and emissions was not related to the measured characteristics of either wood or bark, raising the question of the diffusion pathway. We emphasized the importance of sampling trunk CH4 flux at multiple locations on the surface of a tree trunk to capture spatial variability, a prerequisite for estimating tree-level CH4 emissions.

opencc-by-4.0Jan 2022View details →

FIG. 1 in Demographic and spatial structure at the stage of expansion in the populations of some alien land snails in Belgorod city (Central Russian Upland)

FIG. 1. Map of study sites. РИС. 1. Карта раЗмеЩения исследуемых участков.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

A multi-species approach to manage effects of land cover and weather on upland game birds

Loss and degradation of grasslands in the Great Plains region has resulted in major declines in abundance of grassland bird species. To ensure future viability of grassland bird populations, it is crucial to evaluate specific effects of environmental factors among species to determine drivers of population decline and develop effective conservation strategies. We used threshold models to quantify effects of land cover and weather changes on lesser and greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus and T. cupido, respectively), northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus), and ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus). We demonstrated a novel approach for estimating landscape conditions needed to optimize abundance across multiple species at a variety of spatial scales. Abundance of all four species was highest following wet summers and dry winters. Prairie-chicken and ring-necked pheasant abundance was highest following cool winters, while northern bobwhite abundance was highest following warm winters. Greater prairie-chicken and northern bobwhite abundance was also highest following cooler summers. Optimal abundance of each species occurred in landscapes that represented a grassland and cropland mosaic, though prairie-chicken abundance was optimized in landscapes with more grassland and less edge habitat than northern bobwhites and ring-necked pheasants. Because these effects differed among species, managing for an optimal landscape for multiple species may not be the optimal scenario for any one species.

opencc-by-4.0Jan 2018View details →

Fig. 2 in Terrestrial Molluscs In The Dry Grasslands Of The Dnipro Upland (Central Ukraine): New Records, Rare Species And Conservation Potential

Fig. 2. Shells of Granaria frumentum from the vicinities of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi town.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2024View details →

Accompanying data for the paper "Making Sense of Wildlife Habitat Use on Active Oil Sands Mines: Quasi-experiments, Occupancy Models, Trends Assessments, and Upland Habitat Reclamation"

This data set contains both the raw species detection records and the derived occupancy model data used to assess usage patterns for the nine species of wildlife.  Data have been anonymized by using non-identifying company and lease names. These attributes are not required to reproduce the results in this paper and was done per contractual requirements between LGL Limited and its clients. Data is currently being reviewed by the client and will be shared publicly once final approval has been received.

opencc-by-4.0Sep 2012View details →

Fig. 3 in The earliest record of a diogenid hermit crab from the Late Jurassic of the southern Polish Uplands, with notes on paguroid carapace terminology

Fig. 3. Drawing of diogenid hermit crab carapace, illustrating morphological terms used herein.

opencc-zeroNov 2022View details →

Data from: Low species turnover of upland Amazonian birds in the absence of physical barriers

Aim: One of the oldest and most powerful ways for ecologists to explain distinct biological communities is to invoke underlying environmental differences. But in hyper-diverse systems, which often display high species richness and low species abundance, these sorts of community comparisons are especially challenging. The classic view for Amazonian birds posits that riverine barriers and habitat specialization determine local and regional community composition. We test the tacit, complementary assumption that similar bird communities should therefore permeate uniform habitat between major rivers, regardless of distance. Location: Upland (terra firme) rainforests of central Amazonia. Results: In all, we detected 244 forest-dependent birds, with an average of 190 species (78%) per plot. Species turnover was negligible, no unique indicator species were found among plot pairs, and all documented species were already known from a complete inventory at one of the three sites. Main conclusions: Our study corroborates the classic biogeographical pattern and suggests that turnover contributes little to regional avian diversity within upland forests. Using a grain size of 100 ha, this implies that upland birds perceive the environment as uniform, at least over distances of ~60 km. Therefore, to maximize both local species richness and population persistence, our findings support the conservation of very large tracts of upland rainforest. Our analyses also revealed that the avifauna at Reserva Ducke, encroached by urban sprawl from the city of Manaus, shows the hallmarks of a disturbed community, with fewer vulnerable insectivores. This defaunation signals that even an enormous preserve (10 × 10 km) in lowland Amazonia is not insulated from anthropogenic degradation within the surrounding landscape.

opencc-zeroJan 2023View details →

Data from: Initial ecological change in plant and arthropod community composition after wildfires in designated areas of upland peatland

This dataset is published in conjunction with the publication of : Kelly, R., Montgomery, W. I., & Reid, N. (2022) Initial ecological change in plant and arthropod community composition after wildfires in designated areas of upland peatland. Ecology and Evolution, and contains the environmental, botanical and entomological datasets underpinning the analysis contained there in. Additionally, it contains datasets on seedbanks and bird species which were collected as part of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency funded project 'Quantifying the impact of wildfires in the Northern Ireland' from 2012 to 2015 (see: <a href="https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/quantifying-impact-wildfires-northern-ireland-final-report-2016">https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/quantifying-impact-wildfires-northern-ireland-final-report-2016</a>) This data underpins the following publications which discuss the impacts of wildfires at these key upland sites in Northern Ireland: <ul> <li>Kelly, R., Boston, E., Montgomery, W. I., & Reid, N. (2016). The role of the seed bank in recovery of temperate heath and blanket bog following wildfires. Applied Vegetation Science, 19(4), 620-633. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12242">https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12242</a> </li> <li>Kelly, R., Montgomery, W. I., & Reid, N. (2018). Differences in soil chemistry remain following wildfires on temperate heath and blanket bog sites of conservation concern. Geoderma, 315, 20-26. - <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.11.016" rel="noreferrer noopener" title="Persistent link using digital object identifier">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.11.016</a> </li> <li>Reid, N., Kelly, R. & Montgomery, W.I. (2022) Impact of wildfires on ecosystems and bird communities on designated areas of blanket bog and heath. Bird Study (In press)</li> <li>Kelly, R., Montgomery, W. I., & Reid, N. (2022) Initial ecological change in plant and arthropod community composition after wildfires in designated areas of upland peatland. Ecology and Evolution. (In press)</li> </ul> Data were collected and collated by Ruth Kelly (ruth.kelly@afbini.gov.uk/ruthkelly123@gmail.com) in collaboration with Dr. Neil Reid, Dr. Emma Boston, Prof. W.I. Montgomery (Queen's University Belfast) and Dr. Damian Mc Ferran (National Museums of Northern Ireland). We are also very grateful to Roy Anderson, Orla McLaughlin, Anna Hart, Rachel Hamill, Adam Mantell, Tony Smith, Joanne Denyer and Richard Weyl for their expertise and assistance in species identification, and to Gillian Riddell, Caroline Finlay, Florentine Spaans, Jeremy Adelard, Marion Chapalain, Alice McPherson, Claire McVeigh, Amber Woods and Rachel Hamill for assistance and expertise in the laboratory and field.

opencc-zeroJan 2023View details →

Data from: Biogeography of curimatid fishes reveals multiple lowland-upland river transitions and differential diversification in the Neotropics (Teleostei, Curimatidae)

The Neotropics harbors a megadiverse ichthyofauna comprising over 6300 species with approximately 80% in just three taxonomic orders within the clade Characiphysi. This highly diverse group has evolved in tropical South America over tens to hundreds of millions of years influenced mostly by re‐arrangements of river drainages in lowland and upland systems. In this study, we investigate patterns of spatial diversification in Neotropical freshwater fishes in the family Curimatidae, a species‐rich clade of the order Characiformes. Specifically, we examined ancestral areas, dispersal events, and shifts in species richness using spatially explicit biogeographic and macroevolutionary models to determine whether lowlands–uplands serve as museums or cradles of diversification for curimatids. We used fossil information to estimate divergence times in BEAST, multiple time‐stratified models of geographic range evolution in BioGeoBEARS, and alternative models of geographic state‐dependent speciation and extinction in GeoHiSSE. Our results suggest that the most recent common ancestor of curimatids originated in the Late Cretaceous likely in lowland paleodrainages of northwestern South America. Dispersals from lowland to upland river basins of the Brazilian and Guiana shields occurred repeatedly across independently evolving lineages in the Cenozoic. Colonization of upland drainages was often coupled with increased rates of net diversification in species‐rich genera such as Cyphocharax and Steindachnerina. Our findings demonstrate that colonization of novel aquatic environments at higher elevations is associated with an increased rate of diversification, although this pattern is clade‐dependent and driven mostly by allopatric speciation. Curimatids reinforce an emerging perspective that Amazonian lowlands act as a museum by accumulating species along time, whereas the transitions to uplands stimulate higher net diversification rates and lineage diversification.

opencc-zeroMay 2023View details →

Effects of human and non-human predation risk on antipredator movement behaviors of an upland game bird

Predators can elicit antipredator behaviors in prey such as proactive and reactive movements, but both are rarely investigated simultaneously. Impacts of human predation risk on antipredator behaviors can potentially be greater than non-human predators, resulting in increased effects on populations and community structure. Therefore, we compared the influence of human and non-human predation risk on proactive and reactive antipredator movement behaviors of a commonly harvested game bird, male Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo, hereafter turkey). We used simultaneously collected GPS locations from 31 turkeys and 36 coyotes (Canis latrans) to investigate antipredator behavior of turkeys to coyotes. To assess antipredator behaviors by turkeys to hunters, we used 1,661 hunting tracks collected while monitoring 109 turkeys. Specifically, for proactive movements, we quantified how predation risk influenced resource selection. To investigate reactive movements, we quantified changes in movement behavior of turkeys after encountering hunters and coyotes. Coyotes and turkeys were sympatric on the landscape as home range overlap was high, but lack of core area overlap, encounters, and similar resource selection suggested use of different areas on the landscape. Turkeys selected areas associated with decreased coyote risk and closer to hardwoods. Coyotes preferred shrubs and open areas, suggesting turkeys avoided coyote risk and the habitats coyotes preferred. We detected 17 coyote and turkey contacts, and probability of a contact decreased by 16.6% for every 100m farther from a forest edge. Turkeys did not display reactive movement behaviors after a direct encounter with coyotes, as step lengths were similar prior and after encounters, which did not differ from random step lengths. After the onset of hunting, turkeys selected to be farther away from public access points and closer to private property, suggesting proactive avoidance of areas associated with increased hunter predation risk. We detected 31 hunter and turkey contacts, step lengths after hunter contacts were approximately double compared to random step lengths. The probability of a hunter-turkey contact decreased by 5.5% for every 100m farther from a secondary road. Collectively, antipredator movement behaviors by turkeys suggest coyote risk to be low over a broad temporal window as we only documented proactive movement behaviors. Conversely, hunter risk is high for a short temporal window while hunting is occurring, as we documented both proactive and reactive movement behavior responses. Overall, we provide insight into how human-induced fear can cause antipredator behavioral responses greater than non-human fear, potentially causing changes in species distribution and community structure.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2023View details →

Data from Comparing organic carbon bound to different minerals in wetland and upland soils

Here is the data and drawing code  for "comparing organic carbon bound to different minerals in wetland and upland soils". Mineral binding of organic carbon (OC) is vital for soil organic carbon (SOC) persistence. However, the relative importance of two main types of soil minerals - metal oxides and silicate clay - in SOC protection remains unclear, hampering our ability to predict and protect this important pool of persistent SOC. Here, using sequential dissolution by dithionite and hydrofluoric acid, we quantified OC bound to metal oxides versus silicate clay in soils from contrasting environments (i.e., wetlands and uplands).  We find that metal oxides override silicate clay in SOC protection in both wetlands and uplands, and OC bound to soil minerals (especially metal oxides) constitutes a higher fraction of SOC in wetlands than uplands, suggesting an underappreciated role of mineral protection in wetland SOC preservation. Furthermore, using lignin phenol analysis in tandem, we find that silicate clay dissolution may release an addition of ~23% lignin phenols from soils, potentially providing a means to assess ‘hidden’ lignin in mineral matrices. These findings highlight the important role of different soil minerals in the protection of SOC and its components in contrasting terrestrial environments, and advance our understanding of predicting and protecting this important pool of persistent SOC.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

Local and landscape environmental heterogeneity drive ant community structure in temperate semi-natural upland grasslands

Environmental heterogeneity is an important driver of ecological communities. Here, we assessed the effects of local and landscape spatial environmental heterogeneity on ant community structure in temperate semi-natural upland grasslands of Central Germany. We surveyed 33 grassland sites representing a gradient in elevation and landscape composition. Local environmental heterogeneity was measured in terms of variability of temperature and moisture within and between grassland sites. Grassland management type (pasture vs. meadows) was additionally included as a local environmental heterogeneity measure. The complexity of habitat types in the surroundings of grassland sites was used as a measure of landscape environmental heterogeneity. As descriptors of ant community structure, we considered species composition, community evenness, and functional response traits. We found that extensively grazed pastures and within-site heterogeneity in soil moisture at local scale, and a high diversity of land cover types at the landscape scale affected ant species composition by promoting nest densities. Ant community evenness was high in wetter grasslands with low within-site variability in soil moisture and surrounded by a less diverse landscape. Fourth-corner models revealed that ant community structure response to environmental heterogeneity was mediated mainly by worker size, colony size, and life history traits related with colony reproduction and foundation. We discuss how withinsite local variability in soil moisture and low-intensity grazing promote ant species densities, and highlight the role of habitat temperature and humidity in affecting community evenness. We hypothesize that a higher diversity of land cover types in a forest-dominated landscape buffers less favorable environmental conditions for ant species establishment and dispersal between grasslands. We conclude that spatial environmental heterogeneity at local and landscape scales plays an important role as a deterministic force in filtering ant species and, along with neutral processes (e.g. stochastic colonization), in shaping ant community structure in temperate semi-natural upland grasslands.