Andean non-volant small mammals: A dataset of community assemblages of non-volant small mammals from the high Andes

EDGARDO M. RENGIFO; JORGE BRITO; JAYAT, J. PABLO; RAISA CAIRAMPOMA; AGUSTINA NOVILLO; NATALI HURTADO; IGNACIO FERRO; CESAR E. MEDINA; ALFONSO ARGUERO; SERGIO SOLARI; JOSE URQUIZO; ARIATNA VILLARREAL; ELENA VIVAR; PABLO TETA; MARCIAL QUIROGA-CARMONA; GUILLERMO D'ELÍA1; ALEXANDRE REIS PERCEQUILLO

ECOLOGY

ECOLOGICAL SOC AMER

Año: 2022

0012-9658

Information from diversity inventories was used to study patterns ofbiodiversity and species distribution, to identify potential priority areas for conservation,and to guide future sampling efforts. In this context, we compiled information on nonvolantsmall mammal communities from the high Andes (>2,000 m.). Here, we presentan open source dataset containing information on diversity (species composition, numberof individuals captured), inventory design (type of traps, sampling efforts), andenvironment (habitat) for both unpublished and published information. This study covers630 mammalian communities, geographically distributed throughout the Andes inVenezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. We compiled a totalof 26,412 individual records belonging to 240 species; the order with greatest number ofrecords was Rodentia (n = 25,319, 96.06%), followed by Didelphimorphia (n = 373,1.42%), Eulipotyphla (n = 358, 1.36%) and Paucituberculata, (n = 307, 1.16%). Andeannon-volant small mammal communities harbor a range from 1-17 species, with 93.06 %of sites being composed of one to five species, 27.78% of sites with species richnessvarying from six to ten species, and 4.17% sites composed by more than ten species.Multiple sampling methods were employed to survey non-volant small mammals; themost representative methods were snap-traps and Sherman traps, or a combination ofboth, in more than 81% of the studies. The Andean non-volant small mammals data paperrepresents the first large dataset of faunal species inventories for the Andes. There are nocopyright restrictions associated with the use of this dataset. Please cite this data paperwhen its data are used total or partially in research or teaching.