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.
39
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.9.0
Dataset results
39 results for “Trophic Dynamics”
Impacts of microplastics on wetland ecosystem dynamics: a mesocosm study of trophic interactions and community responses, 2021-2025
This dataset documents a mesocosm experiment conducted to evaluate the ecological impacts of microplastics (MP) on wetland communities representative of eastern USA wetlands. The study focused on key organisms across trophic levels, including tadpoles (Lithobates pipiens), snails (Helisoma trivolvis), zooplankton (Daphnia pulex), phytoplankton, and periphyton communities, to assess the effects of three microplastic types (low-density polyethylene–LDPE, medium-density polystyrene–PS, and high-density polyester–PES) at two concentrations (1 mg/L and 5 mg/L), alongside a no-microplastic control. Experimental units consisted of 70 mesocosms (19-L buckets) with 10 replicates per treatment, established between July 1–15, 2021, at Binghamton University’s Ecological Research Facility. Response variables included survival and developmental traits (mass, snout-vent length, shell width) of tadpoles and snails, microplastic ingestion, zooplankton abundance, phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll and phycocyanin concentrations), and periphyton mass. The dataset provides comprehensive measurements of community responses and water quality parameters, offering insights into the ecological consequences of microplastic pollution in wetland ecosystems. This dataset is suitable for researchers studying ecotoxicology, wetland ecology, and the impacts of anthropogenic pollutants on aquatic food webs.
GFE01 Ghost Fire: an experimental manipulation of fire effects on multi-trophic community dynamics in the ungrazed uplands of unburned and annually burned watersheds of Konza Prairie
Frequent burning is a common land practice in many grasslands worldwide, and this land use strategy has large impacts on a wide variety of ecosystem functions and services. Fire in tallgrass prairie, in the absence of grazing, alters plant community composition, decreases richness, and increases plant production. Proposed mechanisms for the changes in community composition and function are that fire decreases N availability (through volatilization) and removes litter (thereby increasing light availability and decreasing soil moisture). However, few experiments explicitly test these mechanisms, and those that do monitor short-term effects.Yet, the strength of these mechanisms likely differ over longer time scales, as other ecosystem attributes (e.g., plant community composition) change through time. Ghost Fire aims to determine the mechanisms behind community and ecosystem differences between annually burned grassland and 20-year burned grassland (hereafter called unburned) by experimentally manipulating N availability and litter. We impose litter and N conditions found in unburned grassland onto annually burned grassland, and litter and N conditions typically found in annually burned grassland onto unburned grassland. Importantly, Ghost Fire monitors both below-and above-ground plant community and ecosystem dynamics as well other dimensions of the ecosystem including microbial and mycorrhizal communities and insect community composition and biomass.
Periodical cicadas disrupt trophic dynamics via community-level shifts in Avian Foraging
<p>Once every 13 or 17 years within eastern North American deciduous forests, billions of periodical cicadas concurrently emerge from the soil and briefly satiate a diverse array of naive consumers, offering a rare opportunity to assess the cascading impacts of an ecosystem-wide resource pulse on a complex food web. Here, we quantify the effects of the 2021 Brood X emergence, and report that >80 bird species opportunistically switched their foraging to include cicadas, releasing herbivorous insects from predation, and essentially doubling both caterpillar densities and accumulated herbivory levels on host oak trees. These short-lived but massive emergence events help us to understand how resource pulses can rewire interaction webs and disrupt energy flows in ecosystems, with potentially long-lasting effects. </p> <p> </p>
High trophic level feedbacks on global ocean carbon uptake and marine ecosystem dynamics under climate change (Dupont et al., GBC)
<p>Files used to make the analysis in the paper "High trophic level feedbacks on global ocean carbon uptake and marine ecosystem dynamics under climate change" (Dupont et al., accepted in GBC)</p> <p>- HTL_LTL_figures.ipynb is the python notebook in which are computed the different terms to make the figures of the paper </p> <p>- histrcp85.1-PISAPE-N-OW** and piCtrl2-PISAPE-N-OW** files contain the raw outputs of the one way (OW) simulation</p> <p>- histrcp85.1-PISAPE-N-TW* and piCtrl2-PISAPE-N-TW* files contain the raw outputs of the two way (TW) simulation</p> <p>- all files ending with *rmp_f.nc/ *regrid.nc/ *f20.nc are regridded files to make maps used in the paper. More details can be found in the python noteboook (briefly, dAT_* = change in active export, dDIC_*= change in dissolved inorganic carbon, dEPC200_* = change in carbon export at 200m depth, OW/TW_<a href="https://zenodo.org/api/files/cc2ae8cc-a150-4bc6-9125-04d9e3465859/TW_dBMapermp_f.nc">dBMape</a>* = OW/TW change in small high trophic levels biomass, OW/<a href="https://zenodo.org/api/files/cc2ae8cc-a150-4bc6-9125-04d9e3465859/TW_dBMapermp_f.nc">TW_dBM</a>meszo* = OW/TW change in mesozooplankton biomass)</p> <p>- <a href="https://zenodo.org/api/files/cc2ae8cc-a150-4bc6-9125-04d9e3465859/egestt2_2.nc">egestt2_2.nc</a>, excrett2_2.nc and graztt2_2.nc are the outputs of egestion, excretion and grazing terms used to compute the active export (AT). </p>
Effects of temporal abiotic drivers on the dynamics of an allometric trophic network model
<p>Current ecological research and ecosystem management call for improved understanding of the abiotic drivers of community dynamics, including temperature effects on species interactions and biomass accumulation. Allometric trophic network (ATN) models, which simulate material (carbon) transfer in trophic networks from producers to consumers based on mass-specific metabolic rates, provide an attractive framework to study consumer-resource interactions from organisms to ecosystems. However, the developed ATN models rarely consider temporal changes in some key abiotic drivers that affect e.g. consumer metabolism and producer growth. Here, we evaluate how temporal changes in carrying capacity and light-dependent growth rate of producers and in temperature-dependent mass-specific metabolic rate of consumers affect ATN model dynamics, namely seasonal biomass accumulation, productivity and standing stock biomass of different trophic guilds, including age-structured fish communities. Our simulations of the pelagic Lake Constance (LC) food web indicated marked effects of temporally changing abiotic parameters on seasonal biomass accumulation of different guild groups, particularly among the lowest trophic levels (primary producers and invertebrates). While the adjustment of average irradiance had a minor effect, increasing metabolic rate associated with 1–2˚C temperature increase led to a marked decline of larval (0-year age) fish biomass, but to a substantial biomass increase of 2- and 3-year-old fish that were not predated by ≥4-year-old top predator fish, European perch. However, when averaged across the 100 simulation years, the inclusion of seasonality in abiotic drivers caused only minor changes in standing stock biomasses and productivity of different trophic guilds. Our results demonstrate the potential of introducing seasonality in and adjusting the average values of abiotic ATN model parameters to simulate temporal fluctuations in food-web dynamics, which is an important step in ATN model development aiming to e.g. assess potential future community-level responses to ongoing environmental changes.</p>
Effects of temporal abiotic drivers on the dynamics of an allometric trophic network model
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Periodical cicadas disrupt trophic dynamics via community-level shifts in Avian Foraging
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Linking Precipitation and C3 - C4 Plant Production to Resource Dynamics in Higher Trophic Level Consumers: Lizard Data (2005-2006)
In many ecosystems, seasonal shifts in temperature and precipitation induce pulses of primary productivity that vary in phenology, abundance and nutritional quality. Â Variation in these resource pulses could strongly influence community composition and ecosystem function, because these pervasive bottom-up forces play a primary role in determining the biomass, life cycles and interactions of organisms across trophic levels. Â The focus of this research is to understand how consumers across trophic levels alter resource use and assimilation over seasonal and inter-annual timescales in response to climatically driven changes in pulses of primary productivity. We measured the carbon isotope ratios (d13C) of plant, arthropod, and lizard tissues in the northern Chihuahuan Desert to quantify the relative importance of primary production from plants using C3 and C4 photosynthesis for consumers. Â Summer monsoonal rains on the Sevilleta LTER in New Mexico support a pulse of C4 plant production that have tissue d13C values distinct from C3 plants. Â During a year when precipitation patterns were relatively normal, d13C measurements showed that consumers used and assimilated significantly more C4 derived carbon over the course of a summer; tracking the seasonal increase in abundance of C4 plants. Â In the following spring, after a failure in winter precipitation and the associated failure of spring C3 plant growth, consumers showed elevated assimilation of C4 derived carbon relative to a normal rainfall regime. These findings provide insight into how climate, pulsed resources and temporal trophic dynamics may interact to shape semi-arid grasslands such as the Chihuahuan Desert in the present and future.
Linking Precipitation and C3 - C4 Plant Production to Resource Dynamics in Higher Trophic Level Consumers: Insect Data (2005-2006)
In many ecosystems, seasonal shifts in temperature and precipitation induce pulses of primary productivity that vary in phenology, abundance and nutritional quality. Â Variation in these resource pulses could strongly influence community composition and ecosystem function, because these pervasive bottom-up forces play a primary role in determining the biomass, life cycles and interactions of organisms across trophic levels. Â The focus of this research is to understand how consumers across trophic levels alter resource use and assimilation over seasonal and inter-annual timescales in response to climatically driven changes in pulses of primary productivity. We measured the carbon isotope ratios (d13C) of plant, arthropod, and lizard tissues in the northern Chihuahuan Desert to quantify the relative importance of primary production from plants using C3 and C4 photosynthesis for consumers. Â Summer monsoonal rains on the Sevilleta LTER in New Mexico support a pulse of C4 plant production that have tissue d13C values distinct from C3 plants. Â During a year when precipitation patterns were relatively normal, d13C measurements showed that consumers used and assimilated significantly more C4 derived carbon over the course of a summer; tracking the seasonal increase in abundance of C4 plants. Â In the following spring, after a failure in winter precipitation and the associated failure of spring C3 plant growth, consumers showed elevated assimilation of C4 derived carbon relative to a normal rainfall regime. These findings provide insight into how climate, pulsed resources and temporal trophic dynamics may interact to shape semi-arid grasslands such as the Chihuahuan Desert in the present and future.
Trophic cascades alter eco-evolutionary dynamics and body size evolution
<p><span class="MsoIntenseEmphasis"><span>Trait evolution in predator-prey systems can feed back to the dynamics of interacting species as well as cascade to impact the dynamics of indirectly linked species (eco-evolutionary trophic cascades; EETC). A key mediator of trophic cascades is body mass, as it both strongly influences and evolves in response to predator-prey interactions. Here we use Gillespie Eco-Evolutionary Models to explore EETCs resulting from top predator loss and mediated by body mass evolution. Our four trophic level food chain model uses allometric scaling to link body mass to different functions (ecological pleiotropy) and is realistically parameterized from the FORAGE database to mimic the parameter space of a typical freshwater system. To track real-time changes in selective pressures, we also calculated fitness gradients for each trophic level. As predicted, top predator loss generated alternating shifts in abundance across trophic levels, and depending on the nature and strength in changes to fitness gradients, also altered trajectories of body mass evolution. Although more distantly linked, changes in the abundance of top predators still affected the eco-evolutionary dynamics of the basal producers, in part because of their relatively short generation times. Overall, our results suggest that impacts on top predators can set off transient eco-evolutionary trophic cascades with the potential for widespread indirect impacts on food webs.</span></span></p>
Data from: Refining trophic dynamics through multi-factor Bayesian mixing models: a case study of subterranean beetles.
<p>Food web dynamics are vital in shaping the functional ecology of ecosystems. However, trophic ecology is still in its infancy in groundwater ecosystems due to the cryptic nature of these environments. To unravel trophic interactions between subterranean biota, we applied an interdisciplinary Bayesian mixing model design (multi-factor BMM) based on the integration of faunal C and N bulk tissue stable isotope data (δ<sup>13</sup>C and δ<sup>15</sup>N) with radiocarbon data (Δ<sup>14</sup>C), and prior information from metagenomic analyses. We further compared outcomes from multi-factor BMM with a conventional isotope double proxy mixing model (SIA BMM), triple proxy (δ<sup>13</sup>C, δ<sup>15</sup>N and Δ<sup>14</sup>C, multi-proxy BMM) and double proxy combined with DNA prior information (SIA+DNA BMM) designs. Three species of subterranean beetles (<i>Paroster macrosturtensis</i>, <i>Paroster mesosturtensis</i> and <i>Paroster microsturtensis</i>) and their main prey items Chiltoniidae<i> </i>amphipods (AM1: <i>Scutachiltonia axfordi</i> and AM2: <i>Yilgarniella sturtensis</i>), cyclopoids and harpacticoids from a calcrete in Western Australia were targeted. Diet estimations from stable isotope only models indicated homogeneous patterns with modest preferences for amphipods as prey items. Multi-proxy BMM suggested increased - and species-specific - predatory pressures on amphipods coupled with high rates of scavenging/predation on sister species. SIA+DNA BMM showed marked preferences for amphipods AM1 and AM2 and reduced interspecific scavenging/predation on <i>Paroster </i>species. Multi-factorial BMM revealed the most precise estimations (lower overall SD and very marginal beetles' interspecific interactions), indicating consistent preferences for amphipods AM1 in all the beetles' diets. Incorporation of genetic priors allowed crucial refining of the feeding preferences, while integration of more expensive radiocarbon data as a third proxy (when combined with genetic data) produced more precise outcomes but close dietary reconstruction to that from SIA+DNA BMM. Further multidisciplinary modelling from other groundwater environments will help elucidate the potential behind these designs and bring light to the feeding ecology of one the most vital ecosystems worldwide.</p>
Data and code for: The role of indirect interspecific effects in the stochastic dynamics of a simple trophic system
<p>Understanding indirect interspecific effects (IIEs) on population dynamics is key for predicting community dynamics. Yet, empirically teasing apart IIEs from other interactions and population drivers is data-demanding. We used stochastic population models parameterized with long-term vital rate time series to simulate population trajectories and examine IIEs in a high-arctic vertebrate trophic chain: Svalbard reindeer, its scavenger (Arctic fox), and a migratory fox prey (barnacle goose). Reindeer carcass supply shaped fox abundance fluctuations, subsequently affecting goose fluctuations. Yet reindeer and goose population growth rates were only weakly correlated, probably due to stochasticity, density dependence, and life history traits. However, by isolating the effects of individual processes within our simulation model, we demonstrate the presence of strong IIEs on goose population fluctuations and extinction probability. Thus, we highlight the long-term impact of species interactions, including IIEs, on species coexistence and communities, beyond immediate effects and short-term fluctuations.</p>
Figure 6 in Dynamic of fish trophic guilds in the plateau-plain gradient in the Paraguay River, Northern Pantanal
Figure 6. Difference between trophic guilds in the sampled segments in Paraguay River. (A) herbivores. (B) piscivores. (C) invertivores. * indicates statistical difference at the 0.05 significance level.
Figure 2 in Dynamic of fish trophic guilds in the plateau-plain gradient in the Paraguay River, Northern Pantanal
Figure 2. Limnological characteristics in the sampled segments in the Paraguay River, Mato Grosso, Brazil, from July to November 2017 and August 2018. (A) temperature. (B) water transparency. * indicates statistical difference at the 0.05 significance level.
Figure 4 in Dynamic of fish trophic guilds in the plateau-plain gradient in the Paraguay River, Northern Pantanal
Figure 4. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the limnological and environmental variables in the segments in the Paraguay River, from July to November 2017 and August 2018. (A) variables contribution. (B) sampled areas ordination.
Data from: Refining trophic dynamics through multi-factor Bayesian mixing models: A case study of subterranean beetles
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Arthropod predation of vertebrates structures trophic dynamics in island ecosystems
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Trophic cascades alter eco-evolutionary dynamics and body size evolution
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data and code for: The role of indirect interspecific effects in the stochastic dynamics of a simple trophic system
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
The dynamic trophic niche of an island bird of prey
Optimal Foraging Theory predicts an inverse relationship between the availability of preferred prey and niche width in animals. Moreover, when individuals within a population have identical prey preferences and preferred prey is scarce, a nested pattern of trophic niche is expected if opportunistic and selective individuals can be identified. Here, we examined intraspecific variation in the trophic niche of a resident population of striated caracara (Phalcoboenus australis) on Isla de los Estados (Staten Island), Argentina, using pellet and stable isotope analyses. While this raptor specializes on seabird prey, we assessed this population's potential to forage on terrestrial prey, especially invasive herbivores as carrion, when seabirds are less accessible. We found that the isotopic niche of this species varies with season, age, breeding status and, to a lesser extent, year. Our results were in general consistent with classic predictions of the Optimal Foraging Theory, but we also explore other possible explanations for the observed pattern. Isotopic niche was broader for groups identified a priori as opportunistic (i.e., non-breeding adults during the breeding season and the whole population during the non-breeding season) than it was for individuals identified a priori as selective. Results suggested that terrestrial input was relatively low, and invasive mammals accounted for no more than 5% of the input. The seasonal pulse of rockhopper penguins likely interacts with caracara's reproductive status by constraining the spatial scale on which individuals forage. Niche expansion in spatially flexible individuals did not reflect an increase in terrestrial prey input, rather it may be driven by a greater variation in the types of marine prey items consumed.
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.