DOI: 10.5061/dryad.k98sf7mc9
title: Data from: Northern pikas experience reduced occupancy due to surrounding human land use despite the occurrence of suitable microclimates

description: Aim: Despite warming temperatures, some species are found persisting at
 the trailing edge of their distribution. Microclimates provided by complex
 topography are considered a key factor in these cases of range
 stationarity, buffering stress from exposure to warming and enabling
 persistence. However, for species with trailing-edges located in
 human-modified landscapes, refugial conditions provided by microclimates
 could be disrupted by human activities. Here, we aimed to understand the
 determinants of trailing-edge occupancy for a small lagomorph found in
 rocky patches harboring cool microclimates. Location: Hokkaido Island,
 Japan Taxon: Northern pika (Ochotona hyperborea) Methods: We surveyed the
 occupancy of northern pikas across a wide elevational gradient (350–2200
 m) for two consecutive summers. Ambient air and microhabitat (i.e., rock
 interstices) thermal conditions were measured to assess their
 relationship. We then analyzed their effects on occupancy at two nested
 spatial scales: (1) whole-distribution, and (2) at identified
 trailing-edge sites where we explored the effects of microclimates and
 surrounding human activities (i,e., distance to nearest road and area of
 human land use such as plantation forests or agricultural fields).
 Results: Overall, rock interstices exhibited cooler conditions than
 ambient air with temperature differences of 1–2 ºC. The overall
 distribution of northern pikas was affected by both mean ambient
 temperature and microhabitat availability, with warmer (lower elevation)
 sites with less microhabitats corresponding to the trailing edge of its
 distribution. Interestingly, trailing edge occupancy patterns were best
 explained by the negative effect of surrounding human land despite the
 existence of suitable microclimates in the rocky patches. Main
 conclusions: Our findings suggest that the local refugial conditions
 supported by cool microclimates are likely to be disrupted by the effects
 of human land at the larger landscape scale. This result highlights the
 importance of considering the effects of human activities and landscape
 alteration for effective microrefugia conservation. --
description: # README This file was generated on 2024-02-03 by Tomoki Sakiyama
 # GENERAL INFORMATION ##
 1. Title of Dataset: Data from: Northern pikas experience reduced
 occupancy due to surrounding human land use despite the occurrence of
 suitable microclimates ## 2. Author Information Corresponding Investigator
 Name: Tomoki Sakiyama Institution: Graduate School of Environmental
 Science, Hokkaido University, Japan Email:
 Co-investigators Name: Jorge Garcia
 Molinos Institution: Arctic Research Center, Hokkaido University, Japan ##
 3. Date of data collection: 2021-2022 # DATA & FILE OVERVIEW ## 1.
 Description of Dataset The data was generated to analyze the occupancy of
 northern pikas in Hokkaido, Japan at two nested spatial scales: (1) at
 whole-distribution scale to define the trailing edge; and (2) at trailing
 edge scale to explore the effects of microclimates and human modification
 of the landscape (distance to nearest road and area of human land-use). ##
 2. File list * Pika_occupancy_microclimate_TSakiyama.csv ## 3.
 DATA-specific information for Pika\_occupancy\_microclimate\_TSakiyama.csv
 * Column A (Year): Survey year * Column B (Site): Site ID * Column C
 (Ambient_mean): Mean ambient temperature, unit: degrees Celsius * Column D
 (Ambient_range): Mean ambient thermal range, unit: degrees Celsius *
 Column E (Interstice_mean): Mean interstice temperature, unit: degrees
 Celsius * Column F (Interstice_range): Mean interstice thermal range,
 unit: degrees Celsius * Column G (Rock_interstice): Rock-interstice
 availability, unit: percentage * Column H (Distance_road): Distance to the
 closest road, unit: meter * Column I (Area_landuse): Area of human
 land-use within 3-km radius, unit: square kilometer * Column J
 (Detection_sesison1): Detection of occupancy during survey session 1, 0:
 absent, 1: present, NA: survey not conducted * Column K
 (Detection_sesison2): Detection of occupancy during survey session 2, 0:
 absent, 1: present, NA: survey not conducted * Column L
 (Detection_sesison3): Detection of occupancy during survey session 3, 0:
 absent, 1: present, NA: survey not conducted * Column M
 (Detection_sesison4): Detection of occupancy during survey session 4, 0:
 absent, 1: present, NA: survey not conducted * Column N
 (Detection_sesison5): Detection of occupancy during survey session 5, 0:
 absent, 1: present, NA: survey not conducted * Column O
 (Detection_sesison6): Detection of occupancy during survey session 6, 0:
 absent, 1: present, NA: survey not conducted * Column P (Date_sesison1):
 Julian date of survey session 1, NA: survey not conducted * Column Q
 (Date_sesison2): Julian date of survey session 2, NA: survey not conducted
 * Column R (Date_sesison3): Julian date of survey session 3, NA: survey
 not conducted * Column S (Date_sesison4): Julian date of survey session 4,
 NA: survey not conducted * Column T (Date_sesison5): Julian date of survey
 session 5, NA: survey not conducted * Column U (Date_sesison6): Julian
 date of survey session 6, NA: survey not conducted