Data from: Cross-scale anthropogenic threats jointly drive declines in China’s estuarine fish assemblages over the past half-century
Data files
Oct 15, 2025 version files 13.30 KB
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estuarine_fish_database.csv
8.37 KB
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README.md
4.93 KB
Abstract
This dataset contains fish survey data and multi-scale anthropogenic threats from three major Chinese estuaries, spanning the years 1959 to 2021. The data includes metrics on fish community structure (richness and abundance) alongside multi-scale anthropogenic drivers.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.q2bvq83zz
Description of the data and file structure
README: Estuarine Fish and Anthropogenic Threats Database
File Name: estuarine_fish_database.csv
1. Overview
This dataset contains fish survey data and multi-scale anthropogenic threats from three major Chinese estuaries, spanning the years 1959 to 2021. The data includes metrics on fish community structure (richness and abundance) alongside multi-scale anthropogenic drivers.
Estuary Codes:
- PRE: Pearl River Estuary
- YRE: Yellow River Estuary
- YtRE: Yangtze River Estuary
2. Data File Description
- File format: Comma-Separated Values (CSV)
- Encoding: UTF-8
- Column headers: Present on the first line
- Missing values: Coded as NA
3. Variable Descriptions
| Column Name | Description | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| location | Code indicating the estuary where data was collected. | - | PRE: Pearl River Estuary |
| year | The year of the observation. | - | Format: YYYY |
| month | The month of the observation. | - | Range: 1 (Jan) to 12 (Dec) |
| freshwater input | Volume of freshwater discharge into the estuary. | 100 million m³ (10⁸ m³) | Represents monthly inflow. |
| sediment input | Load of sediment discharge into the estuary. | 10,000 tons (10⁴ tons) | Represents monthly sediment load. |
| fishing intensity | An indicator of fishing pressure. | kW | Total power of fishing vessels. |
| SST | Sea Surface Temperature. | Degrees Celsius (°C) | - |
| SOI | Southern Oscillation Index. | - | A climate index indicating El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phase. |
| life stage | The developmental stage of the fish community sampled. | - | Early-stage: Early life stages (e.g., eggs, larvae, juveniles). Later-stage: Later life stages (e.g., older juveniles, adults). |
| richness | Number of different fish species recorded. | Species count | - |
| abundance | Measure of fish quantity. | Varies by life stage: | For early-stage, this is a density measurement. For later-stage, this is a biomass measurement. |
4. Usage Notes
- The unit for abundance is dependent on the life stage. Please ensure the correct unit is used when analyzing or comparing data.
- Multiple entries for the same location, year, and month may represent different sampling events, replicates, or aggregated data from the original source.
- This dataset is suitable for analyzing relationships between estuarine fish populations and environmental drivers such as river discharge, sedimentation, sea temperature, climate oscillations, and fishing pressure.
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
- This is the sole publicly accessible location for this version of the dataset.