Data from: Cascading effects of a disease outbreak in a remote protected area
Cite this dataset
Monk, Julia et al. (2022). Data from: Cascading effects of a disease outbreak in a remote protected area [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7wm37pvvr
Abstract
Disease outbreaks induced by humans increasingly threaten wildlife communities worldwide. Like predators, pathogens can be key top-down forces in ecosystems, initiating trophic cascades that may alter food webs. An outbreak of mange in a remote Andean protected area caused a dramatic population decline in a mammalian herbivore (the vicuña), creating conditions to test the cascading effects of disease on the ecological community. By comparing a suite of ecological measurements to pre-disease baseline records, we demonstrate that mange restructured tightly-linked trophic interactions previously driven by a mammalian predator (the puma). Following the mange outbreak, scavenger (Andean condor) occurrence in the ecosystem declined sharply and plant biomass and cover increased dramatically in predation refuges where herbivory was historically concentrated. The evidence shows that a disease-induced trophic cascade, mediated by vicuña density, could supplant the predator-induced trophic cascade, mediated by vicuña behavior, thereby transforming the Andean ecosystem.
README: Data from: Cascading effects of a disease outbreak in a remote protected area
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7wm37pvvr
Data for “Cascading effects of a disease outbreak in a remote protected area”, by Monk, J.D., J.A. Smith, E. Donadio, P.L. Perrig, R.D. Crego, M. Fileni, O. Bidder, S.A. Lambertucci, J.N. Pauli, O.J. Schmitz and A.D. Middleton, 2022, Ecology Letters
Julia D. Monk
Yale University
julia.monk@yale.edu
Justine A. Smith
Univerisity of California Davis
justinesmith@ucdavis.edu
Data collected in San Guillermo National Park (SGNP), Argentina, from 2000-2020
FILES:
MonkSmith_Biomass.csv
MonkSmith_condor_all_locations.csv
MonkSmith_condor_foraging_locations
MonkSmith_CoverHeight.csv
MonkSmith_kill_locations.csv
MonkSmith_puma_locations.csv
MonkSmith_SeedSpike.csv
MonkSmith_timeseries.csv
MonkSmith_vicuna_locations.csv
MonkSmith_VicunaDistanceData.csv
MonkSmith_Biomass.csv Dataset used for analyzing field-measured biomass
year: Year of sampling (2011 vs. 2019)
Site_ID: ID of sampling plot
habitat: Habitat of sampling plot (Plain = open plains refuge habitat, sparsely vegetated;
Canyon: rocky canyons and mountain slopes, high-predation risk habitat, sparsely vegetated;
Meadow: heavily vegetated wet meadow, high-predation risk habitat)
treatment: Treatment type in original exclosure experiment from which 2011 data were sourced; for this analysis, only values from "Control" (unfenced and available for herbivory) plots were analyzed
Biomass: standing green biomass (g/m^2)
MonkSmith_condor_all_locations.csv Dataset used for analyzing all condor locations in SGNP
Month: date of sampling (mm/d/yy)
Ind: individual condor ID
Prop: proportion of total locations for that month inside SGNP
n.inside: number of locations inside SGNP for that month
n: total number of locations detected for that month
Period: time period in relation to mange outbreak
MonkSmith_condor_foraging_locations.csv Dataset used for analyzing condor foraging locations in SGNP (subset of locations taken at midday when velocity was equal to 0)
Month: date of sampling (mm/d/yy)
Ind: individual condor ID
Prop: proportion of total locations for that month inside SGNP
n.inside: number of locations inside SGNP for that month
n: total number of locations detected for that month
Period: time period in relation to mange outbreak
MonkSmith_CoverHeight.csv Dataset used for analyzing field-measured graminoid cover and height
Site_ID: ID of sampling plot
year: Year of sampling (2011 vs. 2019)
habitat: Habitat of sampling plot (Plain = open plains refuge habitat, sparsely vegetated;
Canyon: rocky canyons and mountain slopes, high-predation risk habitat, sparsely vegetated;
Meadow: heavily vegetated wet meadow, high-predation risk habitat)
treatment: Treatment type in original exclosure experiment from which 2011 data were sourced; for this analysis, only values from "Control" (unfenced and available for herbivory) plots were analyzed
transect: number of the within-plot transect (5/plot)
CoverGramin: Graminoid cover (%), determined by point-intercept method along each transect
AvHeightGramin: mean height (in cm) of all graminoids intercepted using the point-intercept method along each transect
NHeight: Number of graminoid plants intercepted along each transect (N for AvHeightGramin)
MonkSmith_kill_locations.csv Dataset used for analyzing the proportion of puma kills in each habitat
ID: individual puma ID
timestamp: date and time of kill (yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ)
habclass: ID for habitat of location (1 = canyons, 2 = meadows, 3 = plains)
MonkSmith_puma_locations.csv Dataset used for analyzing the proportion of puma locations in each habitat
ID: individual puma ID
timestamp: date and time of location record (yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ)
habclass: ID for habitat of location (1 = canyons, 2 = meadows, 3 = plains)
MonkSmith_SeedSpike.csv Dataset used for analyzing field-measured seed spike prevalence
Site_ID: ID of sampling plot
year: Year of sampling (2011 vs. 2019)
habitat: Habitat of sampling plot (Plain = open plains refuge habitat, sparsely vegetated; Canyon = rocky canyons and mountain slopes, high-predation risk habitat, sparsely vegetated; Meadow = heavily vegetated wet meadow, high-predation risk habitat)
treatment: Treatment type in original exclosure experiment from which 2011 data were sourced; for this analysis, only values from "Control" (unfenced and available for herbivory) plots were analyzed
ConEsp: Total number of individual grasses per plot with seed spikes (as determined by the point-intercept method along 5 transects in each plot)
SinEsp: Total number of individual grasses per plot without seed spikes (as determined by the point-intercept method along 5 transects in each plot)
ConSin: The total number of grasses intercepted per plot (ConEsp + SinEsp)
PropWithSeed: The proportion of intercepted grasses with seed spikes (ConEsp/ConSin)
MonkSmith_time_series.csv Dataset used for remotely-sensed SAVI and time series analyses
date: date of sampling (mm/d/yy)
precip: total monthly precipitation (mm)
temp: mean monthly temperature (degrees Celsius)
plainsSAVImean: monthly mean of the Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index in plains
meadowSAVImean: monthly mean of the Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index in meadows
canyonSAVImean: monthly mean of the Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index in canyons
MonkSmith_vicuna_locations.csv Dataset used for analyzing the proportion of vicuña locations in each habitat
ID: individual vicuña ID
timestamp: date and time of location record (yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ)
habclass: ID for habitat of location (1 = canyons, 2 = meadows, 3 = plains)
MonkSmith_VicunaDistanceData.csv Dataset used for analyzing vicuña densities based on distance sampling
id: observation ID
Year: year of sampling
Season: season in which sampling was conducted (Win = Winter, Fall=Fall, Sum = Summer)
Site: site of sampling (LCAS = Llano de Caserones, LL = Llano de los Leones, LSG = Llano de San Guillermo)
Long_km: length of the transect (km)
SP: species (V = vicuña)
Angle: angle to the center of the group of animals, from the observer
Dist_m: distance to the center of the group, from the observer (using laser rangefinder)
Methods
For full methods, see Monk et al., "Cascading effects of a disease outbreak in a remote protected area", Ecology Letters and associated online Supplement.
Usage notes
We report puma and vicuña habitat use, vicuña density, condor activity, field-measured plant variables, and remotely-sensed time series data (soil-adjusted vegetation index, precipitation, temp) for San Guillermo National Park, Argentina. For more details, see associated publication and the ReadMe file.
Funding
National Geograp
The Devonwood Foundation
American Society of Mammalogists
Denver Zoological Foundation
Lincoln Park Zoo
CREOI
Mrs. Patricia Manigault
Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Award: 04/B227
IAATE Conservation Award
PICT, Award: 0725-2014