Long-term monitoring of small mammals (abundance and distribution) in Doñana Natural Area 2011-2021

Francisco Carro1, Xosé Pardavilla1, Álvaro Martín2, Carlos Caro2, Isidro Román2, Ramón C. Soriguer Escofet1, Luis Santamaría3, Ricardo Díaz-Delgado1, Javier Bustamante4, Rocío Márquez-Ferrando1

1 Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), C/ Américo Vespucio 26,  Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain; 2 Estación Biológica de Doñana, Carretera de El Rocío - Matalascañas, A-483, km 40, 21760, Almonte, Spain; 3 Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), C/ Américo Vespucio 26,  Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain; 4 Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), C/ Américo Vespucio 26,  Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla

Corresponding author(s): Francisco Carro (pcarro@ebd.csic.es)Xosé PardavillaÁlvaro MartínCarlos CaroIsidro RománRamón C. Soriguer EscofetLuis SantamaríaRicardo Díaz-Delgado (rdiaz@ebd.csic.es)Javier Bustamante (jbustamante@ebd.csic.es), Rocío Márquez-Ferrando (rociomarquez@ebd.csic.es)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Carro F, Pardavilla X, Martín Á, Caro C, Román I, Soriguer Escofet R C, Santamaría L, Díaz-Delgado R, Bustamante J, Márquez-Ferrando R (2023). Long-term monitoring of small mammals (abundance and distribution) in Doñana Natural Area 2011-2021. Version 1.7. Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC). Samplingevent dataset. https://doi.org/10.15470/d0uktr https://doi.org/10.15470/d0uktr

Abstract

The monitoring of the small-mammal community in Doñana Natural Area was initiated in 2011 as part of the Monitoring Program of Natural Resources and Processes. The aim was to obtain a temporal and continuous series of data in the abundance, density and distribution of   white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula), black rat (Rattus rattus), garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus), algerian mouse (Mus spretus) and wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) for population trend analyses. Different treatment in vegetation were applied in the plots to determine how respond the populations to environmental changes.

Keywords: Samplingevent, Occurrence, Long-term monitoring, Mammals

Project details

Project title: Seguimiento a largo plazo de los procesos naturales en la Infraestructura Científica y Técnica Singular Reserva Biológica de Doñana
Personnel: Javier Bustamante, Luis Santamaría, Ricardo Díaz-Delgado, Ramon C. Soriguer
Funding: 1.- Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures from  the Spanish Science and Innovation Ministry (ICTS-MICINN). 
2.-  Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development from the Regional Government of Andalusia (CAGPDES-JA).
3.- Doñana Biological Station from the Spanish National Research Council (EBD-CSIC).
4.- Ministry of Environmetal sustainability and blue economy from the Regional Goverment of Andalusia.
5.- Ministry of Science and Innovation.
6.- European Comission.
Study area descriptions/descriptor: The study area covers the Natural and National park of Doñana, including the Doñana’s Biological Reserve (RBD).
Design description: The Natural Processes Monitoring Program in Doñana belong to ICTS-RBD. It was created in the 1980s. Initially it focused on birds and endangered species such as the Iberian Lynx or the Imperial Eagle. In 2003, it was extended as part of an extensive monitoring program that included other components of biodiversity and ecological processes (marsh flooding or amphibian and reptile communities). As a summary, data analysis and evaluation are made to take management decisions in a short period of time to minimize the impact of the local and global change. The results are reported annually to the National Park Office and regional authorities through annual reports.

Data published through GBIF: https://ipt.gbif.es/resource?r=don_icts-rbd_smallma_2011-2021

Taxonomic coverage

Taxonomic ranks
Species: Crocidura russula, Rattus rattus, Eliomys quercinus, Mus spretus, Apodemus sylvaticus
Common names: White-toothed shrew, Black rat, Garden dormouse, Algerian mouse, Wood mouse

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: The study area covers the  Doñana Protected Area.
Coordinates: 90°0'0''S and 90°0'0''N Latitude; 68°0'0''W and 180°0'0''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: August 11, 2011 - November 30, 2021

Methods

Method step description: Traps were installed during the morning and remained active for three consecutive nights. A daily check was made in the morning (a night check is unnecessary since Sherman traps include food, synthetic cotton inside and lined with film to withstand inclement weather). Once captured, individual was identified until species level and sexed when it was posible. Additionally, body mass of indviduals were taken using a pesola with 0.5 g accuracy. To control the recaptures individuals of R. rattus, A. sylvaticus, M. spretus, and E. quercinus were marked with a ear tag. On the other hand, individuals of E. quercinus also was marked with transponder. Individuals of C. russula were marked with hair cut or due to its high metabolism and risk of death was released without performing the procedures at moment. All animals were released in the same place of capture. The trapping method was consistent throughout the study period.
Study extent description: The study area is located in southwest Spain in the Guadalquivir Basin and cover the Natural Area of Doñana (Natural Park with 538,35 km2 and National Park with 542,51 km2). The climate is Mediterranean sub-humid with Atlantic coast influence: wet mild winters and dry warm summers. The rainy period occurs between October and April, with a peak in December–January (yearly average precipitation is about 550 mm). Four main ecosystems are described in the area: the marsh, mobile dunes, Mediterranean shrubland with pine forests and a long beach of 30 kms.
Sampling description: The monitoring of the small-mammal community in Doñana Natural Area was initiated in 2011. The aim was to obtain a temporal and continuous series of data in the abundance, density and distribution of   white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula), black rat (Rattus rattus), garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus), algerian mouse (Mus spretus) and wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) for population trend analyses. To record the abundance, density and distribution of small-mammals in Doñana Natural Area, a protocol of capture-mark and recapture monitoring of individuals is applied using Sherman’s live-traps (https://www.semice.org/es/el-proyecto/; Flowerdew et al. 2004, Torre el al., 2018). Seven localities of Doñana (MANECORRO, MATASGORDAS, MEDIANA, MORO, LORO, LTER AND SABINAR) of different mediterranean habitats (grassland, shrubland, pine forest, juniper woodlands and oak forest) have been sampled twice per year (between May-Dec) since 2011.  Each locality has been divided in plots and subplots respectively: MANECORRO3 (A, B, C, D), MATASGORDAS3 (B, C, D), MEDIANA2 (B, C, D), MEDIANA3 (A, C, D), MORO1 (B, D), MORO2 (A, C), LORO1 (A, B, D), LORO2 (A, B, C), LORO4 (B, C, D), LORO6 (A, C, D), LTER1  (A), LTER2 (A), SABINAR1 (A), SABINAR2 (A) and SABINAR3 (A). In each subplot has been placed between 36 traps spaced 15 meters apart covering an area of 0.56 ha. 
The study is divided in two periods (2011-2016 and 2017-2021) with different sampling effort and different treatments applied in the study plots, since the study belong two different projects (ICTS-RBD 2011-2021, ADAPTAMED 2017-2021). LORO1 and LORO2 was affected by a wildfire in June of 2017. The different treatments applied in the study area are the followings: 
1.- Grazing exclusion using fences.
2.- Planting with protection of heap of branches.
3.- Planting without protection of heap of branches.
4.- Plant with and without protection of heap of branches.
5.- Cutting 60% of vegetation.
6.- Not treatment.
Quality control description: The protocol used has been supervised by herpetological researchers and the data have been validated by the members who performed the transects.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Long-term monitoring of small mammals (abundance and distribution) in Doñana Natural Area 2011-2021
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://ipt.gbif.es/archive.do?r=don_icts-rbd_smallma_2011-2021
Publication date of data: 2023-12-20
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2023-04-25
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
Flowerdew JR, Shore RF, Poulton SMC, Sparks TH (2004). Live trapping to monitor small mammals in Britain. Mammal Review 34: 31–50. doi: 10.1046/j.0305- 1838.2003.00025.x.
Torre I, Raspall A, Arrizabalaga A, Díaz M (2018) SEMICE: An unbiased and powerful monitoring protocol for small mammals in the Mediterranean Region. Mammalian Biology 88: 161-167. doi: 10.1016/j.mambio.2017.10.009.