EDP Foz-Tua: Cabrera vole (Microtus cabrerae) - Ecological Monitoring Program, Exploration Phase [2017-2020]

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 76 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:

Cabral J A, Travassos P, Vale-Gonçalves H, Barros P, Duro V, Brás L, Carvalho D, Paupério J, Quirós J, Múrias T (2023): EDP Foz-Tua: Cabrera vole (Microtus cabrerae) - Ecological Monitoring Program, Exploration Phase [2017-2020]. v1.0. EDP - Energias de Portugal. Dataset/Samplingevent. http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=edp_tua_cabrera_2018-20&v=1.0

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is EDP. 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: fb9d1b2f-2716-4afd-82d6-459722a4a457.  EDP publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Portugal.

Keywords

Cabrera vole; Microtus cabrerae; small mammals; occurrence; indirect evidence; Rodentia; exploration phase

Contacts

Geographic Coverage

The data were collected within a 2-km buffer around the valley of the River Tua (Northeast Portugal), up to 50 km from the mouth, in the municipalities of Carrazeda de Ansiães, Murça, Vila Flor and Mirandela.

Taxonomic Coverage

The taxonomic coverage of this dataset spans 1 phylum, 2 classes, 3 orders, 5 families 6 genera and 7 species.

Temporal Coverage

Project Data

The dataset contains records of the Cabrera vole (Microtus cabrerae) and similar species of the class Rodentia and Soricomoprha collected in plots along the lower Tua River, included in the Ecological Monitoring Program (2017-2020) of the Foz Tua Hydroelectric Dam, promoted by EDP – Energias de Portugal, S.A. Data were collected between November 2017 and December 2020 during field visits to 50 known or presumed colonies of the species within a 3-km buffer around the River Tua lower valley. The occurrence of the target taxa was documented through 245 observation events distributed among the 32 known or potential occupied colonies. In total, four taxa were identified, at genus (19) or species levels. Microtus cabrerae was the most abundant species (121 indirect observations/signs of presence), followed by Apodemus sylvaticus (19), M. lusitanicus (15), Crocidura russula (14) and Mus spretus (13). Two bird species identified by scats (Curruca undata and Turdus merula) were also included. Non-identifiable/contaminated scats (42) were assessed to the phylum, only.

The personnel involved in the project:

Sampling Methods

Sampling was designed to cover all sites with potential habitats for the Cabrera vole (fallows, bushes, river habitats with herbaceous vegetation) located in a buffer of 3 km around the lower Tua valley affected by the Foz Tua dam. All areas surveyed during the previous phases of the project (EIA and Baseline Studies) that were not flooded (50) were included. These areas, were prospected for indirect signs of the Cabrera vole presence (number of tracks, faeces or latrines, and heaps of grass clippings) in November of 2017 and in spring/summer (April-May) and autumn (November-December) of 2018-2020. In each known or potential area surveyed, a detailed description of all the relevant biotopes was performed. This description included (a) the type of biotope, (b) the height of vegetation, (c) the characteristics of the landscape surrounding the demarked areas, namely in relation to the land-use and disturbance. Any changes in these parameters observed between sampling periods were recorded. This description, linked with the type of evidences found, was used to classify each area in one of five possible cases: (a) confirmed colony (active and occupied colony of M. cabrerae), (b) confirmed but unoccupied colony (absence of recent evidence in a colony previously identified by molecular tools), (c) potential colony (with evidences of possible, but not (genetically) confirmed, presence of the target species, like tracks and heaps of grass clippings), (d) potential habitat (patches with suitable habitat but without recorded evidences), and (e) no habitat (habitat patches currently without suitable conditions to the occurrence of the species – eg., agriculture or plowed terrain, flat areas without herbaceous cover, riverbeds, with no confirmed occurrences of the species). All faecal samples found in each visit to a colony were collected for subsequent genetic analysis (mitochondrial gene cytocrome-b) in a dedicated laboratory in CIBIO-InBIO (non-invasive samplings), using specific protocols to extract, sequence and analyze the resulting DNA information. This dataset only provides information about the faeces collected (and subjected to molecular analysis) along the study period, thus excluding the “subjective” evidences (tracks, heaps…). Thus, in all, only 34 of the 50 surveyed sites were really useful to assess the occurrence of the species.

Method step description:

1. To be completed

Additional Metadata