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.
7,849
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.9.0
Dataset results
7,849 results for “Conservancy”
Data from: DNA metabarcoding reveals diet overlap between the endangered Walia ibex and domestic goats - implications for conservation
Human population expansion and associated degradation of the habitat of many wildlife species cause loss of biodiversity and species extinctions. The small Simen Mountains National Park in Ethiopia is one of the last strongholds for the preservation of a number of afro-alpine mammals, plants and birds, and it is home to the rare endemic Walia ibex, Capra walie. The narrow distribution range of this species as well as potential competition for resources with livestock, especially with domestic goat, Capra hircus, may compromise its future survival. Based on a curated afro-alpine taxonomic reference library constructed for plant taxon identification, we investigated the diet of the Walia ibex and addressed the dietary overlap with domestic goat using DNA metabarcoding of faecal samples. Faeces of both species were collected from different localities in the National Park. We show that both species are browsers, with forbs, shrubs and trees comprising the largest proportion of their diet, supplemented by grasses. There was a considerable overlap in dietary preferences. Several of the preferred diet items of the Walia ibex (Alchemilla sp., Hypericum revolutum, Erica arborea and Rumex sp.) were also among the most preferred diet items of the domestic goat. These results indicate that there is potential for competition between the two species, especially during the dry season, when resources are limited. Our findings, in combination with the expected increase in domestic herbivores, suggest that management plans should consider the potential threat posed by domestic goats to ensure future survival of the endangered Walia ibex.
Data from: Conserved G-matrices of morphological and life-history traits among continental and island blue tit populations
The genetic variance–covariance matrix (G-matrix) summarizes the genetic architecture of multiple traits. It has a central role in the understanding of phenotypic divergence and the quantification of the evolutionary potential of populations. Laboratory experiments have shown that G-matrices can vary rapidly under divergent selective pressures. However, because of the demanding nature of G-matrix estimation and comparison in wild populations, the extent of its spatial variability remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigate spatial variation in G-matrices for morphological and life-history traits using long-term data sets from one continental and three island populations of blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) that have experienced contrasting population history and selective environment. We found no evidence for differences in G-matrices among populations. Interestingly, the phenotypic variance–covariance matrices (P) were divergent across populations, suggesting that using P as a substitute for G may be inadequate. These analyses also provide the first evidence in wild populations for additive genetic variation in the incubation period (that is, the period between last egg laid and hatching) in all four populations. Altogether, our results suggest that G-matrices may be stable across populations inhabiting contrasted environments, therefore challenging the results of previous simulation studies and laboratory experiments.
Data from: Conserving evolutionary history does not result in greater diversity over geological timescales
Alternative prioritization strategies have been proposed to safeguard biodiversity over macro-evolutionary timescales. The first prioritizes the most distantly related species (maximizing phylogenetic diversity) in the hopes of capturing at least some lineages that will successfully diversify into the future. The second prioritizes lineages that are currently speciating, in the hopes that successful lineages will continue to generate species into the future. These contrasting schemes also map onto contrasting predictions about the role of slow diversifiers in the production of biodiversity over paleontological time scales. We consider the performance of the two schemes across ten dated species-level paleo-phylogenetic trees ranging from foraminifera to dinosaurs. We find that prioritizing phylogenetic diversity for conservation generally led to fewer subsequent lineages, while prioritizing diversifiers led to modestly more subsequent diversity, compared to random sets of lineages. Importantly for conservation, the tree shape when decisions are made cannot predict which scheme will be most successful. These patterns are inconsistent with the notion that long-lived lineages are the source of new species. While there may be sound reasons for prioritizing phylogenetic diversity for conservation, long-term species production might not be one of them.
Data from: Synergetic use of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 for assessments of heathland conservation status
Habitat quality assessments often demand wall-to-wall information about the state of vegetation. Remote sensing can provide this information by capturing optical and structural attributes of plant communities. Although active and passive remote sensing approaches are considered as complementary techniques, they have been rarely combined for conservation mapping. Here, we combined spaceborne multispectral Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1 SAR data for a remote sensing-based habitat quality assessment of dwarf shrub heathland, which was inspired by nature conservation field guidelines. Therefore, three earlier proposed quality layers representing (1) the coverage of the key dwarf shrub species, (2) stand structural diversity and (3) an index reflecting co-occurring vegetation were mapped via linking in situ data and remote sensing imagery. These layers were combined in an RGB-representation depicting varying stand attributes, which afterwards allowed for a rule-based derivation of pixel-wise habitat quality classes. The links between field observations and remote sensing data reached correlations between 0.70 and 0.94 for modeling the single quality layers. The spatial patterns shown in the quality layers and the map of discrete quality classes were in line with the field observations. The remote sensing based mapping of heathland conservation status showed an overall agreement of 76% with field data. Transferring the approach in time (applying a second set of Sentinel 1 and 2 data) caused a decrease in accuracy to 73%. Our findings suggest that Sentinel-1 SAR contains information about vegetation structure that is complimentary to optical data and therefore relevant for nature conservation. While we think that rule-based approaches for quality assessments offer the possibility for gaining acceptance in both communities applied conservation and remote sensing, there is still need for developing more robust and transferable methods.
Data from: Big biology meets microclimatology: Defining thermal niches of ectotherms at landscape scales for conservation planning
Temperature profoundly affects ecology, a fact ever more evident as the ability to measure thermal environments increases and global changes alter these environments. The spatial structure of thermalscapes is especially relevant to the distribution and abundance of ectothermic organisms but the ability to describe biothermal relationships at extents and grains relevant to conservation planning has been limited by small or sparse datasets. Here, we combine a large occurrence database of >23,000 aquatic species surveys with stream microclimate scenarios supported by an equally large temperature database for a 149,000-km mountain stream network to describe thermal relationships for 14 fish and amphibian species. Species occurrence probabilities peaked across a wide range of temperatures (7.0–18.8 °C) but distinct warm- or cold-edge distribution boundaries were apparent for all species and represented environments where populations may be most sensitive to thermal changes. Warm-edge boundary temperatures for a native species of conservation concern were used with geospatial datasets and a habitat occupancy model to highlight subsets of the network where conservation measures could benefit local populations by maintaining cool temperatures. Linking that strategic approach to local estimates of habitat impairment remains a key challenge but is also an opportunity to build relationships and develop synergies between the research, management, and regulatory communities. As with any data mining or species distribution modeling exercise, care is required in analysis and interpretation of results, but the use of large biological datasets with accurate microclimate scenarios can provide valuable information about the thermal ecology of many ectotherms and a spatially-explicit way of guiding conservation investments.
Data from: Phylogeographic diversification and postglacial range dynamics shed light on the conservation of the kelp Saccharina japonica
Studies of postglacial range shifts could enhance our understanding of seaweed species' responses to climate change, and hence facilitate the conservation of natural resources. However, the distribution dynamics and phylogeographic diversification of the commercially and ecologically important kelp Saccharina japonica in the Northwest Pacific (NWP) are still poorly surveyed. In this study, we analyzed the evolutionary history of S. japonica using two mitochondrial markers and 24 nuclear microsatellites. A STRUCTURE analysis revealed two partially isolated lineages: lineage H, which is scattered along the coast of Japan; and lineage P, which occurs along the west coast of the Japan Sea. Ecological niche modeling projections to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) revealed that the southern coasts of the Japan Sea and the Pacific side of the Oshima and Honshu Peninsulas provided the most suitable habitats for S. japonica, implying that these regions served as ancient refugia during the LGM. Ancient isolation in different refugia may explain the observed divergence between lineages P and H. An approximate Bayesian computation analysis indicated that the two lineages experienced post‐LGM range expansion, and that postglacial secondary contact occurred in Sakhalin. Model projections into the year 2100 predicted that S. japonica will shift northwards and lose its genetic diversity center on the Oshima Peninsula in Hokkaido and Shimokita Peninsula in Honshu. The range shifts and evolutionary history of S. japonica improve our understanding of how climate change impacted the distribution range and diversity of this species and provide useful information for the conservation of natural resources under ongoing environmental change in the NWP.
Data from: Survey design for precise fire management conservation targets
Common goals of ecological fire management are to sustain biodiversity and minimize extinction risk. A novel approach to achieving these goals determines the relative proportions of vegetation growth stages (equivalent to successional stages, which are categorical representations of time since fire) that maximize a biodiversity index. The method combines data describing species abundances in each growth stage with numerical optimization to define an optimal growth-stage structure which provides a conservation-based operational target for managers. However, conservation targets derived from growth-stage optimization are likely to depend critically on choices regarding input data. There is growing interest in use of growth-stage optimization as a basis for fire management, thus understanding of how input data influence the outputs is crucial. Simulated datasets provide a flexible platform for systematically varying aspects of survey design and species inclusions. We used artificial data with known properties, and a case-study dataset from southeastern Australia, to examine the influence of (i) survey design (total number of sites, and their distribution among growth stages) and (ii) species inclusions (total number of species and their level of specialization) on the precision of conservation targets. Based on our findings, we recommend that survey designs for precise estimates would ideally involve at least 80 sites, and include at least 80 species. Greater numbers of sites and species will yield increasingly reliable results, but fewer might be sufficient in some circumstances. An even distribution of sites among growth stages was less important than the total number of sites, and omission of species is unlikely to have a major influence on results as long as several species specialize on each growth stage. We highlight the importance of examining the responses of individual species to growth stage before feeding survey data into the growth-stage optimization black box, and advocate use of a resampling procedure to determine the precision of results. Collectively, our findings form a reproducible guide to designing ecological surveys that yield precise conservation targets through growth-stage optimization, and ultimately help sustain biodiversity in fire-prone systems.
Data from: Post K-Pg diversification of the mammalian order Eulipotyphla as suggested by phylogenomic analyses of ultra-conserved elements
The origin of the mammalian order Eulipotyphla has been debated intensively with arguments around whether they began diversifying before or after the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) boundary at 66 Ma. Here, we used an in-solution nucleotide capture method and next generation DNA sequencing to determine the sequence of hundreds of ultra-conserved elements (UCEs), and conducted phylogenomic and molecular dating analyses for the four extant eulipotyphlan lineages—Erinaceidae, Solenodontidae, Soricidae, and Talpidae. Concatenated maximum-likelihood analyses with single or partitioned models and a coalescent species-tree analysis showed that divergences among the four major eulipotyphlan lineages occurred within a short period of evolutionary time, but did not resolve the interrelationships among them. Alternative suboptimal phylogenetic hypotheses received consistently the same amount of support from different UCE loci, and were not significantly different from the maximum likelihood tree topology, suggesting the prevalence of stochastic lineage sorting. Molecular dating analyses that incorporated among-lineage evolutionary rate differences supported a scenario where the four eulipotyphlan families diversified between 57.8 and 63.2 Ma. Given short branch lengths with low support values, traces of rampant genome-wide stochastic lineage sorting, and post K-Pg diversification, we concluded that the crown eulipotyphlan lineages arose through a rapid diversification after the K-Pg boundary when novel niches were created by the mass extinction of species.
Data from: Hybridization between two gartersnake species (Thamnophis) of conservation concern: A threat or an important natural interaction?
Distinguishing between hybrid zones formed by secondary contact versus parapatric divergence-with-gene-flow is an important challenge for understanding the interplay of geographic isolation and local adaptation in the origin of species. Similarly, distinguishing between natural hybrid zones and those that formed as a consequence of recent human activities has important conservation implications. Recent work has demonstrated the existence of a narrow hybrid zone between the plains gartersnake (Thamnophis radix) and Butler's gartersnake (T. butleri) in the Great Lakes region of North America, raising questions about the history and conservation value of genetically admixed populations. Both taxa are of conservation concern, and it is not clear whether to regard hybridization as a threat or a natural interaction. Here we use phylogeographic and population genetic methods to assess the timescales of divergence and hybridization, and test for evidence that the hybrid zone is of recent origin. We assayed AFLP markers and ND2 mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from T. radix, T. butleri, and the closely related short-headed gartersnake (T. brachystoma) throughout their North American ranges. We find shallow mtDNA divergence overall and high levels of variation within the contact zone. These patterns are inconsistent with recent contact of long-diverged taxa. It is not possible to distinguish true divergence-with-gene-flow from a long-term secondary contact zone, but we infer that the hybrid zone is a long-standing, natural interaction.
Figure 2 in A conservation palaeobiological approach to assess faunal response of threatened biota under natural and anthropogenic environmental change
Figure 2.
Holistic multi-method survey to enhance Madagascar's freshwater fish conservation
<p>Freshwater ecosystems are crucial for global biodiversity, supporting plant and animal species and providing essential resources. However, these ecosystems, particularly in island environments such as Madagascar, are under significant threat. Our study focuses on the Amboaboa River basin, home to the rare and endemic fish species <i>Rheocles derhami</i>, last recorded in 2013. To assess the status of this and other threatened fish species including <i>Ptychochromis insolitus</i> and <i>Paretroplus gymnopreopercularis</i>, and to understand freshwater fish population dynamics in this biodiversity hotspot, we conducted a comprehensive survey using both environmental DNA (eDNA) and traditional fishing methods. Our findings reveal updated records of <i>Rheocles derhami</i> and an expanded species list within these freshwater environments. We also explore the implications of combining these two monitoring approaches and investigate the trade-offs associated with multi-primer assessments in eDNA analysis, focusing on three different primers targeting the 12S mitochondrial gene: MiFish, Tele02, and Riaz. Additionally, we provide 12S reference barcodes for 10 species across 9 genera of fishes from the region to increase the coverage of the public reference databases. Overall, our study enlightens the current state of freshwater biodiversity in Amboaboa River basin and underscores the value of employing multiple methods for effective conservation strategies.</p>
Figure 2 in Conservation gaps identification through patterns of species richness established from species niche models of mammals in a sector of Chaco Seco ecoregion
Figure 2. Binary maps of potential distribution of (A) chacoan peccary, (B) cougar, (C) brown brocket deer, (D) collared peccary and (E) anteater. The gray pixels indicate the places of presence of the species.
Figure 1 in Conservation gaps identification through patterns of species richness established from species niche models of mammals in a sector of Chaco Seco ecoregion
Figure 1. Study area. Geometric figures of different colors indicating the sites of presence of the selected mammalian species used for the distribution models.
Figure 3 in Conservation gaps identification through patterns of species richness established from species niche models of mammals in a sector of Chaco Seco ecoregion
Figure 3. Response graphs of habitat suitability (ordinate axis) according to the explanatory variables that intervened in the adjustment of the model for cougar (A, B, C). Precipitation is expressed in mm and altitude in meters. Source of bioclimatic variables (bio), site https://www.worldclim.org/data/bioclim.html.
Data and code for: Prey distribution mapping to support conservation planning
<p>This publication provides the data and code to recreate the analyses for the manuscript "Prey distribution mapping to support conservation planning". The file includes a README describing the data and code provided. </p>
The importance of integrating herbarium records into conservation plans: A case study on Honduran ferns and lycophytes
<p>Herbarium and management plan fern record data from Honduras. Submitted as supplemnteray material to Plants, People, Planet. </p>
Code and Rdata for figures in Liu et al. Conserved genetic basis for microbial colonization of the gut. Cell 2025
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Transcripts (MS Word and RData versions) for "A nationalist-conservative grammar of change?"
<p>Transcripts accompanying the paper "A nationalist-conservative grammar of change?" in both MS Word format (the line numbers refer to this version) and RData. The latter can be used in the accompanying reproductible example (reprex)</p>
Figure 4 from: de Oliveira MJ, Aguiar-Silva FH, de Moraes W, Sanaiotti TM, Banhos A, Moreira N (2022) Ex situ population of the Harpy Eagle and its potential for integrated conservation. ZooKeys 1083: 109-128. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1083.69047
Figure 4 Harpy Eagles (Harpia harpyja) ex situ population worldwide in 2020.
Figure 2 from: Bauni V, Bertonatti C, Giacchino A, Schivo F, Mabragaña E, Roesler I, Rosso JJ, Teta P, Williams JD, Abba AM, Cassini GH, Cousseau MB, Flores DA, Fortunato DM, Giusti ME, Jayat JP, Liotta J, Lucero S, Aguirre TM, Pereira JA, Crisci J (2022) Biodiversity of vertebrates in Argentina: patterns of richness, endemism and conservation status. ZooKeys 1085: 101-127. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1085.76033
Figure 2 Species richness a by taxonomic group by province and b total species richness.
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.