scavenger_community {ecoteach} | R Documentation |
Scavenger community structure in Scandinavian ecosystems
Description
This dataset contains observations of scavenger communities along an environmental gradient from boreal forest to alpine tundra in central Scandinavia. The data was collected using baited camera traps to quantify the structure of the winter scavenger community and assess how climatic conditions affected spatial patterns of species occurrences at baits. The study found that habitat type (forest or alpine tundra) and snow depth were main determinants of community structure. Occurrence at baits by habitat generalists (red fox, golden eagle, and common raven) typically increased at low temperatures and high snow depth, likely due to increased energetic demands and lower abundance of natural prey in harsh winter conditions.
Usage
scavenger_community
Format
A data frame with 1255 rows and 61 variables:
- id
Site identifier (factor)
- year
Year of observation (numeric)
- jd
Julian day (numeric)
- photo_sum
Total number of photos (numeric)
- empty
Number of empty photos (numeric)
- raven
Number of photos with ravens (numeric)
- crow
Number of photos with crows (numeric)
- magpie
Number of photos with magpies (numeric)
- eurjay
Number of photos with Eurasian jays (numeric)
- sibjay
Number of photos with Siberian jays (numeric)
- geagle
Number of photos with golden eagles (numeric)
- wteagle
Number of photos with white-tailed eagles (numeric)
- rlbuzz
Number of photos with rough-legged buzzards (numeric)
- goshawk
Number of photos with goshawks (numeric)
- redfox
Number of photos with red foxes (numeric)
- arcfox
Number of photos with arctic foxes (numeric)
- wolverine
Number of photos with wolverines (numeric)
- badger
Number of photos with badgers (numeric)
- pinemart
Number of photos with pine martens (numeric)
- mustelids
Number of photos with other mustelids (numeric)
- lb
Total number of photos with large birds (numeric)
- bird
Total number of photos with birds (numeric)
- mammal
Total number of photos with mammals (numeric)
- age
Age of bait in days (numeric)
- snow
Snow presence indicator (numeric)
- session
Sampling session identifier (factor)
- ravenm
Raven presence/absence (numeric)
- crowm
Crow presence/absence (numeric)
- magpiem
Magpie presence/absence (numeric)
- eurjaym
Eurasian jay presence/absence (numeric)
- sibjaym
Siberian jay presence/absence (numeric)
- geaglem
Golden eagle presence/absence (numeric)
- wteaglem
White-tailed eagle presence/absence (numeric)
- rlbuzzm
Rough-legged buzzard presence/absence (numeric)
- goshawkm
Goshawk presence/absence (numeric)
- redfoxm
Red fox presence/absence (numeric)
- arcfoxm
Arctic fox presence/absence (numeric)
- wolverinem
Wolverine presence/absence (numeric)
- badgerm
Badger presence/absence (numeric)
- pinemartm
Pine marten presence/absence (numeric)
- mustelidsm
Other mustelids presence/absence (numeric)
- arcfox.day
Arctic fox detected that day (numeric)
- redfox.day
Red fox detected that day (numeric)
- wolverine.day
Wolverine detected that day (numeric)
- raven.day
Raven detected that day (numeric)
- crow.day
Crow detected that day (numeric)
- magpie.day
Magpie detected that day (numeric)
- geagle.day
Golden eagle detected that day (numeric)
- wteagle.day
White-tailed eagle detected that day (numeric)
- badger.day
Badger detected that day (numeric)
- pinemart.day
Pine marten detected that day (numeric)
- eurjay.day
Eurasian jay detected that day (numeric)
- sibjay.day
Siberian jay detected that day (numeric)
- lb.day
Large bird detected that day (numeric)
- se
Session identifier (numeric)
- bird.day
Any bird detected that day (numeric)
- mammal.day
Any mammal detected that day (numeric)
- length
Length of session (numeric)
- samean
Mean solar angle (numeric)
- tamean
Mean temperature (numeric)
- habitat
Habitat type: "Boreal forest" or "Alpine tundra" (factor)
- hosl
Hours of sunlight (numeric)
- scover
Snow cover: "Snow cover" or "No snow cover" (factor)
- loghosl
Log-transformed hours of sunlight (numeric)
- altitude
Altitude in meters (numeric)
- sdepth
Snow depth in cm (numeric)
Source
Gomo, Gjermund and Rød-Eriksen, Lars and Andreassen, Harry P. and Mattisson, Jenny and Odden, Morten and Devineau, Olivier and Eide, Nina E. (2020). Scavenger community structure along an environmental gradient from boreal forest to alpine tundra in Scandinavia. Ecology and Evolution. doi:10.1002/ece3.6834
Examples
# Load the dataset
data(scavenger_community)
# Basic exploration
head(scavenger_community)
summary(scavenger_community)
# Species richness by habitat type
if(require(dplyr)) {
# Count number of unique species by examining columns with species data
scavenger_community %>%
group_by(habitat) %>%
summarize(
raven_present = sum(ravenm > 0, na.rm = TRUE),
redfox_present = sum(redfoxm > 0, na.rm = TRUE),
wolverine_present = sum(wolverinem > 0, na.rm = TRUE),
total_species = raven_present + redfox_present + wolverine_present
)
}
# Compare bird vs mammal occurrence between habitats
if(require(dplyr)) {
scavenger_community %>%
group_by(habitat) %>%
summarize(
bird_observations = sum(bird, na.rm = TRUE),
mammal_observations = sum(mammal, na.rm = TRUE),
observation_ratio = bird_observations / mammal_observations
)
}
# Visualize snow depth distribution by habitat
if(require(ggplot2)) {
ggplot(scavenger_community, aes(x = sdepth, fill = habitat)) +
geom_histogram(position = "dodge", bins = 20) +
labs(title = "Snow depth by habitat type",
x = "Snow depth (cm)",
y = "Count")
}