📁 Thorley_2025_EcologicalMonographs.zip

Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2ngf1vj11

Each analysis is provided in a separate R script, with the data sets needed for each script explained in detail.

(1) Part1_RainfallNDVI_Climwin.R

- MeerkatNDVIMasked.csv Average NDVI across the ranges of all meerkat groups (MODIS MOD13Q1).
- date – dd/mm/yyyy
- mean_ndvi_masked – NDVI is provided every 16 days

- MeerkatRainReserve.csv Daily rainfall at the field site.
- date – dd/mm/yyyy
- rain_method – Indicates how the daily value was collected (Manual / NOAA / Station)
- rain_reserve – Total daily rainfall (mm)

(2) Part2_ForagingPerformance.R

- MeerkatForagingData.csv Historical data set of focal observations (1996–2001).
- IndividID – Individual identity
- GroupRef – Group identity
- Focal_ID – Unique identifier for the observations
- FocalDate – dd/mm/yyyy
- FocalYear – Year in which the focal was conducted
- FocalMonth – Month in which the focal was conducted
- BehavObsDuration – Duration of the focal observation (minutes)
- numAvgHour – Mid-point of the focal, as the hour of the day
- tempmax – Maximum temperature on the day of the focal (°C)
- ndvi – NDVI at the field site (GIMMS NDVI3g)
- SuccForageBoutCount – Number of successful prey pursuits (prey captures)
- TotalDigDuration – Time spent digging for prey (seconds)
- DigProp – Proportion of focal time spent digging

(3) Part3_DWGandOML.R

- MeerkatWeeklyPopulationLevelDWG.csv Population-level average daily weight gain, averaged per week.
- date – dd/mm/yyyy
- uniqueinds – Number of unique individuals averaged
- mean_morningmass – Mean morning body mass (g)
- mean_massresid – Mean residual body mass (g), referred to as body condition in the paper (i.e., deviation from individual lifetime mass trajectories)
- mean_percentmassgain – % daily body mass gain (morning to evening), averaged over all individuals in the week
- mean_absmassgain – Absolute daily body mass gain (g), averaged over all individuals
- ConditionChange_t_t1 – Change in average body condition from one week to the next (g)

- MeerkatIndividualDailyWeightGain.csv Individual daily body mass gain data.
- date – dd/mm/yyyy
- Season – Early summer / Late summer / Winter
- IndividID – Individual identity
- GroupRef – Group identity
- Sex – M / F
- DomStatus – Dominant or subordinate individual
- BirthDate – Date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy)
- Age_year – Age in years
- MorningWeightTime – Time of morning measurement (dd/mm/yyyy hh:ss)
- EveningWeightTime – Time of evening measurement (dd/mm/yyyy hh:ss)
- MorningWeight – Morning body mass (g)
- EveningWeight – Evening body mass (g)
- WeightGain – Daily body mass gain (g)
- TimeDifference – Time between measurements (hours)
- percentmassgain – % body mass gain (evening / morning × 100)
- GroupSize_1moavg – Average group size in the preceding month
- tempmax – Maximum daily temperature (°C)
- ndvi_group – Average NDVI within the home range (MODIS MOD13Q1)
- mass_resid – Residual body mass (g)

- MeerkatOvernightMassLoss.csv Individual overnight body mass loss.
Combines daily weight gain (DWG) and overnight mass loss (OML) for estimating day-to-day mass changes. Columns as for MeerkatIndividualDailyWeightGain.csv, but also:
- OvernightMassLoss_g – Change in body mass from previous evening to morning (g)
- OvernightMassLoss_percent – % change in body mass from previous evening to morning
- WeightChangeMorningToMorning – Body mass change from one morning to the next (g)

(4) Part4_DistributedLagModels.R

- MeerkatDailyTemp.csv Long-term daily temperatures from the Kuruman River Reserve.
Data collected either at the field site (_station) or from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center (_noaa).
- date – dd/mm/yyyy
- tempmin_noaa – Minimum daily temperature (°C), NOAA
- tempmax_noaa – Maximum daily temperature (°C), NOAA
- tempmid_noaa – Mid-range daily temperature (°C), NOAA
- tempmin_station – Minimum daily temperature (°C), onsite
- tempmax_station – Maximum daily temperature (°C), onsite

- MeerkatNDVIMasked.csv
(As described in Part (1))

- MeerkatWeeklyConditionAllAdults.csv Average weekly body condition of all adults contributing data.
- week – Week of the year
- date – dd/mm/yyyy
- uniqueinds – Number of distinct individuals
- weeklyresid – Mean weekly body condition (g)
- weeklyreldev – Proportional deviation in condition
- n_weeklyresid – Number of weight measurements used
- Groupsize – Average group size (incl. pups)
- Groupsize_ExcPups – Average group size (excl. pups)

- MeerkatWeeklyCondition[SubFemales|SubMales|DomFemales|DomMales].csv
Same structure as above, separated by sex and dominance status.

(5) Part5_VitalRates.R

- MeerkatPregnancySurvival.csv Pregnancy status and survival of individuals.
- IndividID – Individual identity
- MonthStart – Start of the month
- Age – Age at month start (days)
- avgCondition – Average monthly body condition (g); similar to mass_resid. NA indicates that an individual is missing body mass information for that month. 
- TB – Did the female have TB? (Y / N)
- Dominant – Was the female dominant? (Y / N)
- Died – Did the female die during the month? (0 / 1)
- Diss – Did the female disappear? (0 / 1)
- Preg – Did the female fall pregnant in the month? (0 / 1). NA indicates months where the female was pregnant, thus neither 0/1. 

- MeerkatLitterSuccess.csv Weaning success of litters.
- FemaleID – Female identifier (same as IndividID)
- ReprodRef – Litter identifier
- BirthDate – Date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy)
- Age – Age of the mother at pregnancy start (days)
- Cond7Day – Average maternal condition (g) during week around pregnancy. NA indicates that an individual is missing body mass information for that week. 
- TB – Did the mother have TB? (Y / N)
- Dominant – Was the mother dominant? (Y / N)
- LitterSuccess – Were any pups weaned? (0 / 1)

(6) Part6_FutureWarmingKalahari.R

- MeerkatCMIP6Tmax.csv Climate projections from CMIP6 EC-Earth3-CC model: number of days exceeding temperature thresholds.
- year – Year of model output
- experiment – historical / ssp245 (medium-risk) / ssp585 (high-risk)
- model – Model used (EC-Earth3-CC)
- Longitude, Latitude – Coordinates (°)
- tmax35 – Days exceeding 35°C
- tmax37 – Days exceeding 37°C

- MeerkatCMIP6ConsecutiveTmax.csv Same structure as above, but includes:
- Maximum number of consecutive days exceeding 35°C (maxstreak35) and 37°C (maxstreak37) thresholds

- data_0.cpg,data_0.dbf, data_0.prj, data_0.shp, data_0.shx   Shape files for the meerkat IUCN distribution used in plotting.

Access information

Other publicly accessible locations of the data:

• https://github.com/JThor1990/MkatConditionDemography