Data from: Flock size and structure influence reproductive success in four species of flamingo in 540 captive populations worldwide

Summary

This dataset accompanies the publication "Flock size and structure influence reproductive success in four species of flamingo in 540 captive populations worldwide" published in Zoo Biology. It contains anonymised data from 540 captive flamingo populations, and includes the four species: Phoeniconaias minor, Phoenicopterus chilensis, Phoenicopterus roseus and Phoenicopterus ruber. Data were sourced from the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), operated by Species360 (https://www.species360.org/). ZIMS is the largest real-time database of comprehensive and standardized information spanning more than 1,200 zoological collections globally, and provides the number of institutions currently managing each flamingo species and both their current and historic population sizes. These data were used to investigate the relationship between reproductive success and both flock size, and structure, on a global scale.

This dataset also contains climatic data provided by WorldClim, which were used to assess the influence of climatic variables on captive flamingo reproductive success globally. The WorldClim database averages 19 different climatic variables derived from monthly temperature and rainfall values at a 1 km spatial resolution for the period 1970-2000. Using geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) we calculated several climatic metrics for each institution. 

Description of the Dataset

One file is provided for each species (P. minor, P. chilensis, P. roseus and P. ruber) as a csv file. Each file contains the following 15 columns:

• Institution Code: An anonymous code used to identify individual zoological institutions.       
• Country: The country where the institution is located.
• Year: Current year (t).
• Flock Size: Flock size in year t.
• Males: The number of males in the flock in year t.           
• Females: The number of females in the flock in year t.
• Unsexed: The number of unsexed individuals in the flock in year t.
• Proportion of Females: The proportion of the flock made up of female individuals in year t.        
• Proportion of Unsexed: The proportion of the flock made up of unsexed individuals in year t.
• Hatches: Number of birds hatched in year t.
• Proportion of Additions: The proportion of the flock in year t made up of additions from year t-1 (not including new birds hatched into the flock).
• MAP: Mean annual precipitation (mm).
• MAT: Mean annual temperature (°C).
• MAP Var: Mean annual variation in precipitation (MAP coefficient of variation).
• MAT Var: Mean annual variation in temperature (MAT standard deviation).

Note: Mean Annual Temperature (MAT) is provided by WorldClim as °C multiplied by 10, and similarly mean annual variation in temperature as MAT standard deviation multiplied by 100. In the corresponding publication, both were divided (by 10 and 100 respectively) prior to modelling to avoid confusion in the units used.

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge and thank all Species360 member institutions for their continued support and data input. The research which data refers to was funded by the Irish Research Council Laureate Awards 2017/2018 IRCLA/2017/60 to Y.M.B. Additionally, S.Q.S. received funding from the International Max Planck Research School for Organismal Biology. The Species360 Conservation Science Alliance would like to thank their sponsors: the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Wildlife Reserves of Singapore, and Copenhagen Zoo. 

Disclaimer

Despite our best efforts at screening the data for errors and inconsistencies, some information could be erroneous. Similarly, data contained within ZIMS are based on submitted records from individual institutions, and are not subject to editorial verification, potentially permitting errors or failure to update species holdings etc. Despite this, ZIMS represents the only global database of zoo collection composition records, and as a result, is used by the IUCN, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network (TRAFFIC), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). 

Credit

If you use this dataset, please cite the corresponding publication:

Mooney, A., Teare, J. A., Staerk, J.,Smeele, S. Q., Rose, P., Edell, R. H., King, C. E., Conrad, L., & Buckley, Y. M. (2023). Flock size and structure influence reproductive success in four species of flamingo in 540 captive populations worldwide. Zoo Biology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21753