Mammal occurrence records (2020-23) in the Valparai Plateau and Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Western Ghats, India

This dataset contains Mammal occurrence records (January 2020 - June 2023) in the Valparai Plateau and Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Western Ghats, India. It includes a few occurrence records of reptiles. Occurrence records were gathered in the field by researchers of the Nature Conservation Foundation, India, using a mobile data collection application. Suggested citation is:Nature Conservation Foundation (2024). Mammal occurrence records (2020-23) in the Valparai Plateau and Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Western Ghats, India. Nature Conservation Foundation, India. Dataset, Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.11903722 CONTACT #11. Name: T. R. Shankar Raman 2. Work Address: Nature Conservation Foundation, 1311, 12th A Main, Vijayanagar 1st Stage, Mysuru 570017, Karnataka, India3. Work Phone: [phone]. Email address: [e-mail] 5. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1347-3953

CONTACT #21. Name: Divya Mudappa 2. Work Address: Nature Conservation Foundation, 1311, 12th A Main, Vijayanagar 1st Stage, Mysuru 570017, Karnataka, India3. Work Phone: [phone]. Email address: [e-mail] 5. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9708-4826

Keywords: tropical rainforest, plantations, Anamalai Hills, Western Ghats, animal distribution, mammals 

Geographic Coverage:1. Location/Study Area: Valparai Plateau, Tamil Nadu, India; Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India2. GPS coordinates: Valparai Plateau (10°15'- 10°22'N, 76°52' - 76°59'E); Anamalai Tiger Reserve (10°12' - 10°35'N, 76°49' - 77°24'E)

Temporal Coverage:1. Begins: 2020-01-11 (Year, Month, Day)2. Ends: 2023-06-02 (Year, Month, Day)

Besides the 000_readMe.txt file containing this information, the dataset includes 60 images (photographs), three comma-delimited text (csv) files, and one R markdown text file with R code as explained below:1) 001_mammalData.csv -- This file has the main mammal occurrence data with relevant and renamed columns derived from the original downloaded Excel worksheet file

2) 002_placeLocs.csv  -- This file lists names places for which the GPS location was unavailable from the mobile phone application, and was manually assigned to coordinates with 500 m accuracy

3) 003_nameMatch.csv -- This file matches the name as originally recorded with the correct common name and scientific name

4) 004_mammup.Rmd -- R code for processing the files to create a file for upload as an occurrence dataset on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF.org)

+60 image files (with ".jpg" file extension)

FILES INCLUDED IN DATASET

001_mammdata.csvThis file has the main mammal occurrence data with relevant and renamed columns derived from the original downloaded Excel worksheet file recordedBy: Observer who recorded/made the observationusername: Username of person on whose mobile phone the data were notedtimestamp: Automatic time stamp of date and time when app was useddate: Date of observationtime: Time of observationdecimalLatitude: Latitude in decimal degrees NdecimalLongitude: Longitude in decimal degrees EGPSaltitude: Altitude in metresGPSaccuracy: Horizontal accuracy of GPS location in metresplace: Name of localityhabitat: Habitat typespecies: Species common namecount: Number of individuals observedcountType: Total (solitary or fully counted groups) or Partial (incompletely counted groups)obsType: Type of observation: sighting, sign (droppings or vocalisation), death, roadkill, electrocution, othernotes: Notes or remarks on observationimageID: Image filename if available (NA, if not available)instanceID: Automatically generated unique identifier of observation

002_placeLocs.csvThis file lists names places for which the GPS location was unavailable from the mobile phone application, and was manually assigned to coordinates with 500 m accuracyplace: Name of locality as recordedlat: Assigned latitude in decimal degrees Nlong: Assigned longitude in decimal degrees EGPSaccuracy: Assigned as 500 m – Horizontal accuracy of GPS location in metres

003_nameMatch.csvThis file matches the name as originally recorded with the correct common name and scientific name.verbatimIdentification: Identification as originally recorded in the ‘species’ column of the mammdata.csv filevernacularName: Common or engish namescientificName: Scientific name

004_mammup.RmdR code for processing the files to create a file for upload as an occurrence dataset on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF.org)