Data from: Mammal persistence and abundance in tropical rainforest remnants in the southern Western Ghats, India

This dataset contains data from the following publication:

Sridhar, H., Raman, T. R. S. & Mudappa, D. 2008. Mammal persistence and abundance in tropical rainforest remnants in the southern Western Ghats, India. Current Science 94: 748-757.
URL: https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/94/06/0748.pdf
URL2: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24100628

Corrigendum:

Sridhar, H., Raman, T. R. S. & Mudappa, D. 2009. Corrigendum: mammal persistence and abundance in tropical rainforest remnants in the southern Western Ghats, India. Current Science 97: 612-613.
URL: https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/97/05/0612.pdf

Description of dataset:

The data contains detections of mammals and hornbills (and few incidental records of other species) made along line transect surveys and opportunistic surveys in the Valparai Plateau and Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India. Further details of the Study Area and methods are available in Sridhar et al. (2008), but methods are briefly described below.

Five rainforest patches were chosen within IGWLS and four privately-owned rainforest fragments in the Valparai plateau. Fifteen line transects, ranging in length from 1 to 3 km were laid across the nine sites, with the three largest sites having 2–4 transects each. The total distance covered by all transects was 32.02 km. Each transect was walked five times between September 2005 and April 2006 following standard distance sampling protocol. Two observers walked each transect at 0.75–1 km/h. For each detection, we recorded species, group size and perpendicular distance (measured using a rangefinder) from the transect. For animals which occurred in groups, perpendicular distances were measured to group centres. Apart from detections on transects, attempts were made to obtain group sizes of mammal species whenever incidentally detected. All transects were walked between 0630 and 1000 h. Indirect evidence (scat, tracks) on transects and incidental sightings (direct and indirect) of mammals were also recorded.

AUTHOR #1

1. Name: Hari Sridhar
2. Work Address: Nature Conservation Foundation, 1311, 12th A Main, Vijayanagar 1st Stage, Mysuru 570017, Karnataka, India
3. Current Work Address: Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, A-3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
4. Email address: [e-mail]
5. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3286-0120

AUTHOR #2

1. Name: T. R. Shankar Raman
2. Work Address: Nature Conservation Foundation, 1311, 12th A Main, Vijayanagar 1st Stage, Mysuru 570017, Karnataka, India
3. Work Phone: [phone]
4. Email address: [e-mail]
5. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1347-3953

AUTHOR #3

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

Keywords: tropical rainforest, tea plantation, coffee plantation, line transect, population density, distance sampling, Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Valparai Plateau, Anamalai Hills, Western Ghats, mammals, hornbills

Geographic Coverage:

1. Location/Study Area: Valparai Plateau, Tamil Nadu, India; Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India

2. 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: 2005-09-01 (Year, Month, Day)

2. Ends: 2006-10-31 (Year, Month, Day)

Dataset files:

Besides the 00_README.txt file, the dataset includes 4 comma-delimited text (csv) files with the data in columns as explained below:

01_Transect_locations.csv — contains transect location details and descriptions

02_Transects_and_opportunistic_surveys.csv — contains main dataset of observations on line transect and opportunistic surveys

03_Opportunistic_observations_locations.csv — contains location details of opportunistic surveys

04_Lion-tailed_macaque_counts.csv — contains counts of lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) troops

05_allmammals_raw.xls — raw data NOT for use, for reference only in original Microsoft Excel format

Data variables and descriptions:

01_Transect_locations.csv
TransectCode: Unique transect code (as used in Appendix 1 of Sridhar et al. 2008 paper), labelled as EXTRA for opportunistic surveys and incidental observations
TransectLength_m: Length of line transect in metres
decimalLatitude: approximate midpoint latitude in decimal degrees (N), WGS84 datum
decimalLongitude: approximate midpoint longitude in decimal degrees (E), WGS84 datum
StartLat: transect starting point latitude in decimal degrees (N), WGS84 datum
StartLon: transect starting point longitude in decimal degrees (E), WGS84 datum
EndLat: transect ending point latitude in decimal degrees (N), WGS84 datum
EndLon: transect ending longitude in decimal degrees (E), WGS84 datum
MidLat: approximate mid-way location latitude in decimal degrees (N), WGS84 datum
MidLon: approximate mid-way longitude in decimal degrees (E), WGS84 datum
ExtraLatLon: additional pairs of latitude and longitude points along transect in decimal degrees (E, N), WGS84 datum
RouteDescription: description of transect route

02_Transects_and_opportunistic_surveys.csv
eventID: unique ID of sampling event corresponding to a single on-foot survey of a line transect, with elements separated by colons and last two elements referring to TransectCode and replicate survey number
occurrenceID: unique ID assigned to each occurrence (detection) along line transect
Sno: serial number
TransectCode: Unique transect code (as used in Appendix 1 of Sridhar et al. 2008 paper), labelled as EXTRA for opportunistic surveys and incidental observations
locality: name of transect
Transectno: unique number assigned to each transect survey or resurvey
Replicate: number indicating repeat survey of same transect
SiteCategory: Category indicating whether transcet was in Protected Area or Rainforest Fragment
Date: date of transect survey or opportunistic observation
Weather: Weather at time of survey
Habitat: Habitat where observation was made
Time: time in 24 h HH:MM format
verbatimIdentification: Identification as originally entered
scientificName: Scientific name of species or taxon observed
vernacularName: Common English name of species or taxon observed
Perpdist: Perpendicular distance in metres
Freshness: rating of freshness of faeces found (d=day, wk=week, mt=month)
individualCount: number of individuals counted, taken as minimum 1 if not noted in field
rawNumber: number as originally entered
DetectionType: type of observation classified as Call, Faeces, Indirect, Sighting, Track
verbatimDetection: raw entry corresponding to previous column
Height: height of observed animal above ground in metres
occurrenceRemarks: remarks on occurrence

03_Opportunistic_observations_locations.csv
locality: name of place or transect where opportunistic observation was made
decimalLatitude: approximate midpoint latitude in decimal degrees (N), WGS84 datum
decimalLongitude: approximate midpoint longitude in decimal degrees (E), WGS84 datum
coordinateUncertaintyInMeters: approximate/estimated uncertainty in location coordinates (in metres)

04_Lion-tailed_macaque_counts.csv
Sno: Serial number of entry
Place_or_Transect: Transect (TransectCode) or place where lion-tailed macaques were counted
Date: Date of observation
Time: Time of observation in 24h HH:MM format
Weather: Weather
Groupid: ID of Lion-tailed macaque troop, if known
Total: Total number of individuals recorded
AM: number of adult males
AF: number of  adult females
A: number of adults (unsexed)
SA: number of sub-adults (unsexed)
SAM: number of sub-adult males
SAF: number of sub-adult females
JUV: number of juveniles
INF: number of infants
CARINF: number of infants carried by mother
UNID: number of unclassified
Remarks: other notes

05_allmammals_raw.xls

Raw data file in Microsoft Excel format -- for reference only (not advised for use)

ADDITIONAL NOTES
General notes taken about survey:
Pannimade transect 3/11/05 - Most giant squirrel detections were made after squirrel alarm called on seeing a soaring raptor.
36TH hpb transect - very poor visibility on one side as it is very steep
Giant squirrels present within LTM  troops might go undetected. Need to look carefully and check every movement
KO transect 20/01/06 - 1 GS which wasn’t detected when walking transect detected when measuring at less than 20 metres
SHK transect 23/01/06 - Abandoned 100 metres from end because of elephants
BAN - Ignore detections after 2.05 KM for first two replicates
KSPV 26/01/2006 - 1 GS  not detected on transect detected while returning at < 40 m
Anaigundi - Transect in december strayed slightly from correct path
Var 30/01/2006 transect  Do not include for indirect signs encounter rate since replicates were done on consecutive days
Is there a difference in visibility between wet and dry months; atleast in the more deciduous forests like varagaliar that is the case
should I consider only january and afterwards for MGH  numbers since vocal activity is much higher then?
TF transect 12/02/06 4 GS heard calling from coffee estate adjoining TF; could fewer detections on last transect be because they are moving into coffee, maybe because some tree is fruiting
Do NL individuals move solitarily; what average group size to use
visibility in BAN and VAR is much better than other sanctuary sites such as IYAK, AN, MA
rained on 1st & 2nd of March after a long dry spell
KSPV  31/03/06 - Could have missed some calls because of cicada noise
KSWT  01/04/06 - Could have missed some calls because of cicada noise
KSPV  02/04/06 - Could have missed some calls because of cicada noise
KSPV 02/04/06  Do not include for indirect signs encounter rate since replicates were done on consecutive days
Great hornbills seem to be more vocal during april. To do with end of nesting??
malabar grey hornbills more vocal from february onwards