9-years of nest records and nest vegetation data at Sakaerat Environmental Research Station, Thailand
Data files
Jan 22, 2025 version files 41.39 KB
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Phringphroh_et_al._2024.csv
39.34 KB
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README.md
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Abstract
Nest predation is typically the main cause of nest failure in forest understory birds thus identification of primary nest predators is key to understanding nest predation patterns. Furthermore, responses of predators are likely affected by vegetation structure, but predator responses to micro-scale habitat characteristics are largely unknown, especially in tropical forests. We used a long-term study with one of the largest datasets of its kind to investigate the extent to which micro-habitat structure (5-m radius surrounding a nest) can predict the likelihood of predation and by which predator. In a secondary evergreen forest in northeastern Thailand 2013–2021, we found 1,016 active nests of 13 species and 24-hour video-monitored 500 of them. We recorded 336 predation events from 16 nest predator species. From this and previous studies at our site, we identified the top four predator species/species-groups accounting for ~83% of predation events: northern pig-tailed macaque Macaca leonina (36% of predation events), cat snakes (Boiga cyanea and Boiga siamensis) (20%), Blandford’s bridle snake Lycodon cf. davisonii (18%), and accipiters (A. trivirgatus and A. badius) (9%). These four differed in their responses to vegetation structure likely reflecting differences in foraging behaviors. Macaque and accipiters, both diurnal and visually oriented, tended to depredate more visible/open nests, but macaques depredated nests surrounded by more trees and short woody stems (< 3 m tall) compared to raptors. For snakes, both nocturnal, cat snakes depredated nests with higher numbers of both short woody stems and woody climbers, while bridle snakes depredated nests with more trees and fewer climbers. As noted previously, nest predator identity is critical to understanding habitat-predation patterns. Our data suggest that nest site vegetation characteristics influence the likelihood of a given species of predator locating a nest and that even small changes in vegetation structure could significantly alter predation patterns.
README: 9-years of nest records and nest vegetation data at Sakaerat Environmental Research Station, Thailand
Title: 9-years of nest records and nest vegetation data at Sakaerat Environmental Research Station, Thailand
Creators : Marisa Phringphroh (on behalf of publication team) and Daphawan Khamcha (OrcID:0000-0002-9616-8830)
Additional Creators: George A. Gale
Organization: Conservation Ecology Program, School of Bioresources and Technology, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Thakham, Bangkhuntien, Thailand
Description: Nest records of 9 focal bird species with nest vegetation data from 2013-2021 ar Sakaerat, Thailand to assess daily nest survival
Analyses to be published in a manuscript: Nest vegetation influences the daily nest survival of 9 focal passerine birds in the long-term plot at Sakaerat, northeastern, Thailand
Data Format: CSV
Data Type numeric and text; file was developed to create an input file for RMark .
Data Descriptions for Columns in CSV file:
year: year of data collection; each year of the breeding season running approximately from January to August
code: = species abbreviation + year + nest ID (number revers to the rank order of nests e.g. SCBA-2013-04, Scaly-crowned babbler of 2013 fourth nest found in the 2013 breeding season
type: nest type (open cup, open cavity, etc.)
outcome: nest outcome: failure or success
column G to I: Julian date 1 January = day 1
column J to S: vegetation variables.
- height: nest height (m)
- active: first active date
- ConAbove: percentage of concealment at 0.5 m above the nest (concealment above nest)
- VisNESW: percent visibility surrounding a nest based on visual estimates from the four cardinal compass directions
- AveCanopy: average canopy cover of trees taller than 10 m (m)
- NTree: number of trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) > 10 cm
- Nsep13,Nsep35, Nsep510 : number of woody stems (DBH<10 cm) categorized into three height layers (1–3 m, 3–5 m, and 5–10 m)
- lianaCov: percentage of liana cover