Skip to main content
Dryad

Sea lion behavioural diversity and environmental heterogeneity: Colony-level metrics (15 colonies, 2000–2023) with GLMM code

Schwarz, Jonas1

Published May 12, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qjq2bvqvp

Data files

May 12, 2026 version files 10.47 KB

Click names to download individual files

Abstract

This dataset provides colony-level behavioural and environmental metrics for five sea lion species across 15 colonies worldwide (2000–2023). For each colony, we summarise population-level behavioural diversity (interquartile range of time-at-depth, IQR_TAD; foraging strategy diversity expressed as the percentage of trips following the most common strategy, strategy_perc) and individual-level specialization/flexibility (repeatability of time-at-depth, R_TAD; Shannon diversity of strategies, SDI). Environmental heterogeneity is represented by spatial complexity (bathymetric_roughness) and by primary productivity and its variability (chlorophyl_concentration, chlorophyl_variability). The dataset enables tests of how spatial and temporal heterogeneity relate to behavioural diversity within and among colonies. Intended uses include reproducing the generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) provided here, sensitivity analyses with/without an identified high-productivity outlier colony (“Lobos”), and comparative or meta-analytic work on habitat heterogeneity and intra-specific behavioural variation. Data are aggregated at the colony level (15 rows; one per colony); no individual identifiers or sensitive location data are included. The accompanying R script (glmmTMB) fits the models used to assess links between behavioural metrics and environmental covariates. These materials support transparent reanalysis, extension (e.g., alternative link functions, priors, or covariate scaling), and integration with other taxa. Ethical approvals and permitting for the underlying biologging come from the original studies; this package contains only derived, aggregated summaries.