EDP Foz-Tua: Cabrera vole (Microtus cabrerae) - Ecological Monitoring Program Baseline Studies [2011-2017]

Description

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 459 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:

Costa H, Salgueiro N, Marques A T, Coelho H, Ferreira C, Oliveira J, Pereira P, Sousa D, Puga J, Caetano M, Neves T, Brito A, Palminha G, Pereira F, Santos J, Queirós L, Múrias T (2019): EDP Foz-Tua: Cabrera vole (Microtus cabrerae) - Ecological Monitoring Program Baseline Studies [2011-2017]. v1. EDP - Energias de Portugal. Dataset/Samplingevent. http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=edp_tua_cabrera_pme&v=1.0

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is EDP - Energias de Portugal. 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: e94838e6-ded0-498e-abc0-df89809999d1.  EDP - Energias de Portugal publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Portugal.

Keywords

Cabrera vole; Microtus cabrerae; Microtus lusitanicus; small mammals; occurrence; indirect evidence; Rodentia

Contacts

Geographic Coverage

The data were collected within a 5-km buffer around the valley of the River Tua (Northeast Portugal), up to 45 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, 1 class, 1 order, 1 family, 1 genus and 2 species.

Temporal Coverage

Project Data

The dataset contains records of the Cabrera vole (Microtus cabrerae) and other species of the genus Microtus collected in plots along the lower Tua River, included in the Ecological Monitoring Program (2011-2017) of the Foz Tua Hydroelectric Dam, promoted by EDP – Energias de Portugal, S.A. Data were collected between April 2012 and May 2017 during field visits to 55 known or presumed colonies of the species within a 5-km buffer around the River Tua lower valley. The occurrence of the target taxa was documented through 275 observation events in 165 sampling points distributed among the 54 known or potential colonies. In total, four taxa were identified, at family (1), genus (1) and species (2) levels. Microtus cabrerae was the most abundant species (188 indirect observations/signs of presence), followed by M. lusitanicus (6).

The personnel involved in the project:

Sampling Methods

Sampling was designed to cover all the potential habitats of the Cabrera vole (fallows, bushes, riverine habitats with low vegetation) in a buffer of 2 km around the lower Tua valley affected by the Foz Tua dam. All areas surveyed during the previous phases of the project (Environmental Impact Assessement and Baseline Studies) were included, and new potential places were added, using aerial photos and other cartographic means, followed by a visit to the area. The search for new potential areas was kept along the duration of the study period. This evaluation furnished a total of 55 areas of known, or presumed, colonies of Microtus cabrera (and other Microtidae). Within these areas, a total of 216 sampling plots was surveyed for signs of the presence of Microtidae (number of tracks, faeces, latrines and heaps of grass clippings) in spring/summer (April-May) and autumn (October-December) of 2012-2017. 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. In the first visit to a colony (or in the subsequent visits, if no faces were found) a feacal sample was collected and sent to laboratory to confirm the presence of the species through molecular analysis. This was performed using the PCR-chain reaction method with specific primers (MiKa1 and MiKa2) that amplify a control region (d loop) fragment of mitochondrial DNA to differentiate samples of Microtus cabrerae droppings from other species of the Arvicolidae family. The sequence detection was performed in the automatic sequencer ABIPRISM® 3730-XL DNA Analyzer from Applied BiosystemsTM, with the above mentioned primers

Method step description:

1. To be completed

Additional Metadata