DOI: 10.5061/dryad.73n5tb3bz
title: Camera trap records of urban wild mammal activity and habitat use in Freiburg, Germany

description: Wildlife is increasingly exposed to human-dominated environments, yet
 detailed data on species activity patterns and urban habitat use remain
 limited. This dataset documents camera-trap detections of ten wild mammal
 species -  badger (Meles meles), foxes (Vulpes vulpes), rat
 (Rattus spp.), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and marten (Martes spp.), rabbit
 (Oryctolagus cuniculus), squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), roe deer (Capreolus
 capreolus), hare (Lepus europaeus), and hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) -
 collected across urban and peri-urban sites in the city of Freiburg,
 Germany. Records were obtained from 24 camera-trap locations and include
 one row per independent capture event. For each detection, the dataset
 provides species identity, number of individuals, spatial identifiers
 (camera location ID and file path), and temporal information, including
 date, time, timestamp, season, and day–night classification. To
 characterize activity patterns, the dataset includes binary and
 categorical indicators of nocturnal versus diurnal activity as well as
 continuous circular time variables. Urban habitat context is quantified
 per ID by the proportion of impervious surface surrounding each camera
 location, serving as a proxy for urbanization intensity. Additional
 variables summarize sampling effort and detection frequency by camera and
 season. The dataset enables analyses of diel activity patterns,
 species-specific urban habitat preferences, and trait-based comparisons
 across mammal species in urban landscapes. It can be reused for studies on
 urban wildlife ecology, temporal niche partitioning, human–wildlife
 interactions, and spatial responses of mammals to urbanization gradients.
 All data were collected using non-invasive camera trapping and contain no
 personal or sensitive information. The dataset presents minimal ethical
 risk and complies with relevant wildlife monitoring and data protection
 guidelines.
description: # Camera trap records of urban wild mammal activity and habitat use in
 Freiburg, Germany Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.73n5tb3bz](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.73n5tb3bz) ##
 Description of the data and file structure The data were collected through
 a systematic camera-trap survey conducted at 24 urban and peri-urban sites
 in the city of Freiburg, Germany. Camera traps were deployed to monitor
 the occurrence and activity patterns of medium-sized terrestrial mammals
 across a gradient of urbanization. Cameras operated continuously and
 recorded date- and time-stamped images of animal detections. Each
 independent capture event was identified and annotated with species
 identity, number of individuals, and temporal information. Spatial context
 was derived for each camera location to quantify surrounding impervious
 surface as a measure of urban intensity. The survey was designed to
 capture variation in diel activity and habitat use of mammal species in
 urban environments. ### Files and variables #### File:
 NocturnalNeigborsData.xlsx **Description:**  This file contains
 camera-trap detection records of wild mammals collected at urban and
 peri-urban sites in Freiburg, Germany. Each row represents one independent
 capture event and includes species identification, number of individuals,
 spatial identifiers, temporal information, activity classification,
 urbanization context, and derived sampling and frequency variables. #####
 Variables **ID**\ Unique identifier of the camera-trap location.
 **Label_ID**\ Numeric label of the camera location. **RelativePath**\
 Relative directory path of the image file within the project folder.
 **RootFolder**\ Root directory of the camera-trap project. **File**\ Image
 file name associated with the detection. **Species**\ Primary species
 identified in the image. **Species2**\ Secondary species identified in the
 image, if present; “Empty” indicates no second species detected.
 **Individuals1**\ Number of individuals of the primary species detected in
 the image. **Individuals2**\ Number of individuals of the secondary
 species detected in the image. **DateTime**\ Original date and time of
 image capture as recorded by the camera (format: YYYY.MM.DD HH:MM:SS).
 **DatetimeCaptured**\ Standardized date and time of image capture.
 **Timestamp**\ Date and time used for temporal analyses (format:
 YYYY.MM.DD HH:MM:SS). **Season**\ Season of the year corresponding to the
 capture event. **Year**\ Calendar year of capture. **SeasonYear**\
 Combined season and year identifier. **Time**\ Time of day of image
 capture (HH:MM:SS). **Seconds**\ Time of capture expressed as seconds
 since midnight. **IsNighttime**\ Binary indicator of nocturnal detection
 (“WAHR” = night, “FALSCH” = day). **Month**\ Month of capture (numeric).
 **Date**\ Calendar date of capture (DD.MM.YYYY). **day_night**\
 Categorical classification of detection as day (“Tag”) or night (“Nacht”).
 **TimeOfDay**\ Continuous proportion of the day corresponding to capture
 time. **CircularTime**\ Time of day expressed as circular value (radians
 or scaled 0–2π) for circular statistical analyses. **avg_impervious**\
 Mean proportion of impervious surface surrounding the camera location;
 proxy for urbanization intensity (unit: proportion, 0–1). **ID_freq**\
 Number of detections recorded at the camera location. **MaxDays**\ Maximum
 number of sampling days for the camera location. **Adjusted_Frequency**\
 Detection frequency standardized by sampling effort. ## Code/software The
 dataset is provided as a Microsoft Excel file
 (`NocturnalNeighborsData.xlsx`) and can be viewed using any software
 supporting the Open XML spreadsheet format, including Microsoft Excel
 (version 2016 or later), LibreOffice Calc, or Apache OpenOffice. All data
 processing and statistical analyses were conducted using R (version 4).
 Mixed-effects models can be fitted using the **lme4** package, with
 significance testing based on Satterthwaite’s approximation implemented in
 **lmerTest**. Multicollinearity diagnostics were performed using the
 **car** package. Activity pattern analyses and visualizations were
 conducted using the **overlap**, **camTrap**, and **suncalc** packages.
 Spatial analyses of urbanization were carried out using the **sf** and
 **terra** packages. Data manipulation and preparation were performed using
 **dplyr**, **tidyr**, and **lubridate**. The workflow consisted of (1)
 importing camera-trap detection data into R, (2) cleaning and
 standardizing species and temporal variables, (3) deriving activity
 metrics including day/night classification, circular time, and weighted
 nocturnality indices corrected for sampling effort, (4) extracting
 impervious surface values within 500-m buffers around camera locations and
 computing weighted mean imperviousness per species. No proprietary
 software is required to view, process, or analyze the data. ## Access
 information The dataset is openly available through the associated data
 repository and can be accessed without restriction. All files may be
 downloaded directly from the repository website. No registration or
 special permissions are required to access or reuse the data. The dataset
 is released under an open license as specified in the repository record.