Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) counts on lighting poles and telephone cables, and physical variables related to their distribution along a coastal highway in Lima, Peru

This dataset was used in: Lozano-Sanllehi S, Zavalaga CB (2021) Nonrandom spatial distribution of Neotropic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) along a coastal highway in Lima, Peru. PLoS ONE 16(3): e0242835. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242835Neotropic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) are common seabirds along the Peruvian coast. Hundreds of these birds rest on lighting poles and telephone cables along a highway in the coastal strip of the city of Lima, Peru, contributing loads of guano to areas of high levels of human activity. This research evaluated the spatial distribution and temporal variation of the cormorants in this highway, and examined the influence of physical variables in their spatial distribution. Based on the results, mitigation proposals for the environmental problem caused by their excreta were posed. This dataset contains fortnightly or monthly surveys performed from July 2018 to March 2020 in the highway. At each survey, cormorants were counted per lighting pole and adjacent telephone cables (collectively, "pole-cable") at four count hours (0600 h, 1000 h, 1400 h and 1800 h). It also contains six physical variables of both the coast and the adjacent marine area. "Neot_cormo_counts_and_variables" file: - date: date of survey. - poleID: code of each unit of count (pole-cable). - coord_X: UTM-18S X coordinate of the pole. - coord_Y: UTM-18S Y coordinate of the pole. - district: district in which the pole is located. BAR, Barranco; CHO, Chorrillos; MIR, Miraflores; SIS, San Isidro; MAG, Magdalena del Mar; SMI, San Miguel. - count_hour: hour of count during the day. six, 0600 h; ten, 1000 h; fourteen, 1400 h; eighteen, 1800 h. - cormorants: number of Neotropic Cormorants. - DS: Distance from the pole-cables to the shoreline (m). - DSZ: Distance from the pole-cables to the surf zone (m). - DG: Distance from the pole-cables to the nearest groyne (m). - PG: Perimeter of the nearest groyne to the pole-cable (m). - D7: Distance from the shoreline to the 7 m isobath (m). Because transparency of seawater (sixth variable) data were measured by section of the highway and not by pole-cable, its structure is different compared to the other variables. Thus, in "Neot_cormo_transparency" file: - date: date of survey. - section: section of the highway in front of which the transparency of seawater was measured. - pres_cormo: presence or absence of cormorants on each highway section. 0, absence; 1, presence. - transect_side: side of the transect (perpendicular to the shoreline) used to measure transparency of seawater. S, shoreline side; M, middle of the transect; O, offshore side. - T: Transparency of seawater (cm).