Data for:
Impacts of predator-mediated interactions along a climatic gradient on the population dynamics of an alpine bird

doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2653

Diana E. Bowler, Mikkel A. J. Kvasnes, Hans C. Pedersen, Brett K. Sandercock, Erlend B. Nilsen

Questions to: diana.e.bowler@gmail.com or erlend.nilsen@nina.no

The dataset originates from a line transect survey program on the land managed by Fjellstyrene (Mountain boards) carried out from 2000- and onward. The surveys are part of a national program - Hønsefuglportalen (http://honsefugl.nina.no), operated in close collaboration among NINA (www.nina.no), Nord University (www.nord.no), Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (www.inn.no) as well as landowners responsible for grouse management on their properties (state-owned land on Finnmarkseiendommen (FeFo), Statskog, and Fjellstyrene, as well as several private landowners).

In general, NINA offers common e-infrastructure for data entry, data curation, management of users and communication from the project (http://honsefugl.nina.no). NINA together with the involved universities are offering advice regarding sampling design, and has developed a standard field protocol used by all participating stakeholders. The specific part of the program carried out on the land managed by Fjellstyrene is operated in collaboration between the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences and each manager in Fjellstyrene, with clear and distinct allocation of tasks and responsibilities between the parties. Managers are responsible for conducting field work, as well as final decisions regarding allocation of transect lines among study areas.

Surveys are carried out mainly by volunteer personnel instructed to follow standardized field protocols. Field work is carried out annually in August, with a team of two persons following pre-defined transect lines, using trained pointing dogs to search both sides of the transect line. When birds are observed, species, cluster size (separated into age- and sex classes), perpendicular distances from the transect line to the observed cluster of birds, GPS coordinates of the clusters and time of day are recorded. In addition, length (and geographical position) of the transect line is recorded, as well as some other auxiliary data.

The main part of this data set (i.e the data from the line transect survey program for willow ptarmigan) is published at GBIF (following doi: https://doi.org/10.15468/s7c8qd, https://doi.org/10.15468/975ski,https://doi.org/10.15468/q2ehlk.) As this data set is from an ongoing monitoring program, we strongly suggest you consider using the original version located at the above addressed for future analyses, and that also the original data sources are cited by their doi’s when reused. The data set published here can be used to verify results in our paper. Part of the data set published here (i.e. transect survey level climate and rodent covariates) are not available from the original source at GBIF.