DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8pk0p2nns
title: Data from: Does urbanization ameliorate the effect of endoparasite infection in kangaroo rats?

description: Urban development can fragment and degrade remnant habitat. Such habitat
 alterations can have profound impacts on wildlife, including effects on
 population density, parasite infection status, parasite prevalence, and
 body condition. We investigated the influence of urbanization on
 populations of Merriam’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) and their
 parasites. We predicted that urban development would lead to reduced
 abundance, increased parasite prevalence in urban populations, increased
 probability of parasite infection for individual animals, and decreased
 body condition of kangaroo rats in urban versus wildland areas. We live
 trapped kangaroo rats at 5 urban and 5 wildland sites in and
 around Las Cruces, NM, USA from 2013-2015, collected fecal samples from
 209 kangaroo rats, and detected endoparasites using fecal flotation and
 molecular barcoding. Seven parasite species were detected, although only
 two, parasitic worms Mastophorus dipodomis and Pterygodermatites
 dipodomis, occurred frequently enough to allow for statistical analysis.
 We found no effects of urbanization on population density or probability
 of parasite infection. However, wildland animals infected with P.
 dipodomis had lower body condition scores than infected animals in urban
 areas or uninfected animals in either habitat. Our results suggest that
 urban environments may buffer Merriam’s kangaroo rats from the detrimental
 impacts to body condition that P. dipodomis infections can
 cause. 
description: README file for “Does
 urbanization ameliorate the effect of endoparasite infection in kangaroo
 rats?” There are
 three data files associated with this contribution.   The file “parasite.csv” includes
 data about whether individual Merriam’s kangaroo rats (<i>Dipodomys
 merriami</i>) were infected with any of 7 endoparasites. Column
 headings are defined as: Tag: this is the individual ear
 tag number associated with a sampled kangaroo rat Month: the month during which
 sampling occurred Year: the year during which
 sampling occurred Habitat: the habitat type in
 which sampling occurred, urban (within the city of Las Cruces, NM, USA) or
 rural (outside of the city on public lands) Site: which of 10 sites at which
 sampling occurred. Coordinates of the sites are given in Table 1 of the
 associated paper. Pterygodermatites dipodomis:
 whether a sample was positive for the presence of Pterygodermatites
 dipodomis (1 = positive, 0 = negative) Mastophorus dipodomis: whether a
 sample was positive for the presence of Mastophorus dipodomis (1 =
 positive, 0 = negative) Giardia lamblia: whether a sample
 was positive for the presence of Giardia lamblia (1 = positive, 0 =
 negative) Cryptosporidium parvum: whether a
 sample was positive for the presence of Cryptosporidium parvum (1 =
 positive, 0 = negative) Eimeria sp.: whether a sample was
 positive for the presence of Eimeria sp. (1 = positive, 0 =
 negative) Heteromoxyuris sp.: whether a
 sample was positive for the presence of Heteromoxyuris sp. (1 = positive,
 0 = negative) Catenotaenia sp.: whether a
 sample was positive for the presence of Catenotaenia sp. (1 = positive, 0
 = negative) Sex:
 whether the sex of an animal was male (m), female (f), or unknown
 (NA) Age: whether
 an animal was an adult (a), juvenile (j) or unknown (NA) Mass g: the mass of the animal in
 grams at the time of sampling Foot mm: the length of the
 animal’s right hindfoot in millimeters at the time of sampling
   The
 file “Livetrapping.csv” includes data from live-trapping of Merriam’s
 kangaroo rats (<i>Dipodomys merriami</i>) that were used to
 estimate population size and density. Column headings are defined
 as: Date of
 capture: this is the date of each capture event. Site: which of 8 sites at which
 sampling occurred. Coordinates and abbreviations for the sites are given
 in Table 1 of the associated paper. Sex: whether the sex of an animal
 was male (M), female (F), or unknown (NA) Age: whether an animal was an
 adult (A), subadult (S), juvenile (J), or unknown (NA) Tag: this is the individual ear
 tag number associated with a sampled kangaroo rat Mass: the mass of the animal in
 grams at the time of sampling Right.hind.foot: the length of
 the animal’s right hindfoot in millimeters at the time of
 sampling Female.nipple.size: This is
 whether a female kangaroo rat had small (S), medium (M), or large (L)
 nipples at the time of capture. This column is not relevant for
 males. Pregnant:
 This is whether a female kangaroo rat was pregnant (Y), not pregnant (N),
 or unknown (NA) at the time of capture. This column is not relevant for
 males. Male.scrotal: This is whether a
 male kangaroo rat had testes that were scrotal (S), not scrotal (N), or
 unknown (NA) at the time of capture. This column is not relevant for
 females.   The file “vegetation.csv”
 includes mean percent vegetative cover values for each site.
 Site: which of 10 sites at
 which sampling occurred. Coordinates and abbreviations for the sites are
 given in Table 1 of the associated paper. Habitat: the habitat type in
 which sampling occurred, urban (within the city of Las Cruces, NM, USA) or
 rural (outside of the city on public lands) Percent shrub: mean percent cover
 by shrubs at the site. Percent forb: mean percent cover
 by forbs at the site. Percent grass: mean percent cover
 by grass at the site. Percent bare ground: mean percent
 cover by bare ground at the site. Percent litter: mean percent
 cover by leaf and other vegetative litter at the site. Percent rock: mean percent cover
 by rocks at the site.