Description
Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) occurrence in Morocco. We collected data on otter presences and absences in 270 sites distributed across 34 Moroccan river basins, visited between April 2011 and April 2013. Data collected were used to study the natural and anthropogenic factors associated with otter occurrence in Morocco. More information in: Calzada, J., Clavero, M., Delibes, M., and Fernández, N. Human pressures constrain Eurasian otter occurrence in semiarid Northern Africa. Biodivers Conserv (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02405-w
Data Records
The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 270 records.
1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Calzada J, Clavero M, Delibes M, Fernández N (2025). Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) occurrence in Morocco. Version 1.2. Universidad de Huelva. Samplingevent dataset. https://doi.org/10.15470/xyzeiv
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Universidad de Huelva. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: f1cf65f2-b028-48cc-bc5d-d9baf96da827. Universidad de Huelva publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Spain.
Keywords
Samplingevent; Morocco; Population conservation; Lutra lutra; Peripheral populations; Arid rivers
Contacts
- Metadata Provider ●
- Originator ●
- User ●
- Point Of Contact
- Profesor Titular de Universidad
- Departamento de Ciencias Integradas, Universidad de Huelva, Av/ Tres de Marzo s/n
- 647599214
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5701-2238
- Originator
- Investigador
- Américo Vespucio s/n
- Originator
- Investigador
- Américo Vespucio s/n
- Originator
- Investigador
- Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4
Geographic Coverage
Morocco, North Africa
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [27.216, -12.393], North East [36.102, -0.088] |
|---|
Taxonomic Coverage
No Description available
| Species | Lutra lutra (Eurasian otter) |
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Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 2011-04-01 / 2013-04-30 |
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Sampling Methods
The survey sites were selected a priori with the goal of covering as much of the country’s river network as feasible and being at least 30 km apart to uniformly surveying the whole region.
| Study Extent | We collected data on otter presences and absences in 270 sites distributed across 34 Moroccan river basins, visited between April 2011 and April 2013. |
|---|---|
| Quality Control | Data quality was ensured through several procedures. All surveys were conducted simultaneously by two observers to minimize detection bias. The surveyors had proven experience in identifying mammal tracks in general, and otter signs in particular. Geographic coordinates were recorded using a GPS device only when the positional error was less than 5 meters. |
Method step description:
- We applied the standard otter survey method, which consists in sampling up to 600 m along the river shore searching for otter signs (spraints, anal scent gland secretions and tracks). River shores were inspected by at least two experienced surveyors in each survey. A site was coded as positive, and the survey was finished, as soon as an otter sign was found, while it was considered negative when the 600 m-long transect was completed without finding any sign.
Bibliographic Citations
- Calzada, J., Clavero, M., Delibes, M., and Fernández, N. Human pressures constrain Eurasian otter occurrence in semiarid Northern Africa. Biodivers Conserv (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02405-w https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02405-w
- Delibes M, Calzada J, Clavero M et al (2012) The near threatened Eurasian otter Lutra lutra in Morocco: no sign of recovery. Oryx 46:249–252. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1017/ S0030 60531 10015 17 https:// doi. org/ 10. 1017/ S0030 60531 10015 17
Additional Metadata
| Acknowledgements | We acknowledge the help of our colleagues in conducting the field sampling: Begoña Adrados, Seila Alvaré, Manuela González, Carlos Gutiérrez-Expósito, Miguel Jácome, Francisco Palomares, Carli Pérez, Eloy Revilla, Jacinto Román and Pablo Villalba, and the scientific advice of Abdeljebbar Qninba and his help in processing the permits necessary to conduct the study. We thank three anonymous referees for their constructive comments on an earlier manuscript. The picture of an otter used in Figure 4 was donated by Juan Matutano. Sampling permissions were obtained from the Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts et a la Lutte contre la Désertification du Royaume du Maroc. Financial support was received from Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC. N.F. acknowledges the support of iDiv funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG–FZT 118, 202548816). Funding for Open Access charge: Universidad de Huelva / CBUA. |
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| Introduction | In many developing countries, the conservation status of species is not monitored as regularly as it should be. Little was known about the population trends of the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) in Morocco. Between 8 and 21 April 1983, Macdonald and Mason surveyed 90 sites in northern and western Morocco, and since then no new data have been published on the species in the country. We collected data on otter presence and absence at 270 sites distributed across 34 Moroccan river basins, visited between April 2011 and April 2013. We revisited all the sites surveyed by Macdonald and Mason, as well as additional locations across the country. These data are crucial for assessing the conservation status of Lutra lutra in North Africa and for designing effective management strategies to support the recovery of the species. |
| Alternative Identifiers | 10.15470/xyzeiv |
| f1cf65f2-b028-48cc-bc5d-d9baf96da827 | |
| https://ipt.gbif.es/resource?r=uhu_lutra |