DOI: 10.5061/dryad.866t1g23j
title: Data from: High ambient temperatures are associated with reduced foraging capacity in an equatorial mammal, the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo)

description: Due to anthropogenic climate change, there is substantial interest in how
 temperature variation impacts reproduction and survival in animal
 populations, however the underlying mechanisms are often poorly
 understood. Animals often behaviourally thermoregulate under high ambient
 temperatures (Tas) to avoid their body temperatures rising, for instance
 becoming less active and resting in shade. However, this can trade off
 with performing vital activities including foraging, reproduction and
 social behaviours. We studied a Ugandan population of banded mongooses
 (Mungos mungo) to investigate how changing temperatures impact behaviour.
 We found that banded mongooses reduce activity under high Tas, such that
 foraging opportunities in particular are constrained. This may explain why
 previous studies on this species have found that offspring care is reduced
 under high Tas, resulting in lower pup weight and survival, as adults may
 struggle to meet their daily food requirements and therefore prioritise
 their own survival over helping to raise pups. As global temperatures
 continue to increase, lowland equatorial species (which are already
 subject to high Tas) may struggle to both behaviourally thermoregulate and
 maintain energy intake through foraging. Our study highlights the
 importance of fine-scale quantification of behaviours in wild systems for
 understanding the mechanisms underlying the impact of changing
 environmental conditions on natural populations.
description: # Data from: High ambient temperatures are associated with reduced
 foraging capacity in an equatorial mammal, the banded mongoose (Mungos
 mungo) Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.866t1g23j](10.5061/dryad.866t1g23j) ##
 Description of the data and file structure We conducted 187 video focals
 on a social group of wild banded mongooses (38 individuals within this
 group) in Queen Elizabeth National park, Mweya, Uganda in order to
 determine how banded mongooses behave in response to changing ambient
 temperatures. These focals were conducted in May 2023. Each video focal
 was ~5 minutes long. ### Files and variables #### File: Dataset.csv
 **Description:** This dataset contains information collected during each
 video focal and each row represents a video focal. ##### Variables * Date:
 The date the video focal was conducted formatted as day/month/year. *
 Focal_ID: The ID of the video focal conducted. Each focal video has a
 unique focal ID that can be used to link back the data to the particular
 video. Whilst there are 187 video focals in this dataset the
 Focal_ID's go from 1-203, this is because some of the video focals
 were of very short duration and so were not included in the final dataset
 as they did not provide reliable time-budget information (e.g. some focals
 only lasted ~20 seconds before the individual went out of sight and so
 these focals were removed from the dataset). Because of this, the focal
 numbers in the column sometimes appear to jump e.g. 1,2,3,5,6,8 and seem
 to go from 1-203 but the actual number of focals is 187. * start_time: The
 time of the start of the video focal. This is given as the number of
 seconds past midnight (for analysis purposes) and so can be converted to
 given the actual time of day in hours, minutes, and seconds (there are
 3600 seconds in an hour). * sunlight: We gave three broad categories of
 sunlight exposure observed at the start of our focal, full clouded over
 (0), partly cloudy (1) or clear sky (2). * Temperature: The ambient
 temperature (°C) at the start of the focal. * humidity: The relative
 humidity (%) at the start of the focal * foraging: The proportion of the
 focal period the individual being recorded spent foraging (see ethogram in
 the full paper for how this behaviour is defined for our study). *
 huddling: The proportion of the focal period the individual being recorded
 spent huddling (see ethogram in the full paper for how this behaviour is
 defined for our study). * walking: The proportion of the focal period the
 individual being recorded spent walking (see ethogram in the paper for how
 this behaviour is defined for our study). * running: The proportion of the
 focal period the individual being recorded spent running (see ethogram in
 the paper for how this behaviour is defined for our study). *
 stationary: The proportion of the focal period the individual being
 recorded spent stationary, defined as standing on two or four legs but not
 moving. * resting: The proportion of the focal period the individual being
 recorded spent resting (see ethogram in the paper for how this behaviour
 is defined for our study). * active_social_behaviour: The proportion of
 the focal period the individual being recorded spent engaging in active
 social behaviour (see ethogram in the paper for how this behaviour is
 defined for our study). * Total_time: The total time of the video focal *
 Active: The proportion of the focal period the individual being recorded
 spent being active (defined as the accumulation of active behaviours
 (running, walking, foraging, and engaging in active social behaviour).  *
 Inactive: The proportion of the focal period the individual being recorded
 spent being inactive (defined as the accumulation of inactive behaviours
 (resting, stationary, and huddling). * image.1 to image.14: The mongoose
 body surface temperature (°C) readings taken during the focal using a
 handheld visual infrared thermometer. A maximum of 14 body surface
 temperature readings were taken and where fewer than 14 images were taken
 during a focal video the blank space was filled with "NA". *
 Average_temp: The average body surface temperature (°C), calculated by
 taking the mean of the body surface temperature readings taken during the
 focal. * birthdate: The birth date of the banded mongoose under focal
 observation. * age: The age (in days) of the banded mongoose at the time
 of the focal observation. * sex: The sex of the banded mongoose recorded
 as M or F. * diff_in_temp: The difference between the average body surface
 temperature (°C) and the average ambient temperature (°C), calculated by
 subtracting the - #### File: Analysis_for_submission.R
 **Description:** The R code containing the models for the main analysis as
 well as the models for the supplementary analysis. ## Code/software The
 dataset is in a CSV format and can be opened and viewed using either
 Microsoft Excel or RStudio. As described in the corresponding paper, the
 analysis was conducted using R-studio version 4.4.2 (2024-10-31).