DOI: 10.5061/dryad.0p2ngf29t
title: The vegetation, environment and occurrence of great gerbils in the survey site

description: The great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus), a pest rodent distributed in Central
 Asia, currently has the largest distribution area of all pest rodents in
 China. R. opimus affects an activity on the environment for two main
 reasons. On the one hand, R. opimus consumes desert vegetation to such an
 extent that the vegetation loses water and dies, while its burrowing
 behaviors significantly decrease surface plant coverage and aggravate
 regional desertification. On the other hand, R. opimus is the main host of
 rat plague, leishmaniasis (Leishmania major), and the Karimabad virus,
 which pose notable threats to human health. This dataset provides
 essential monitoring information on the Great Gerbil (Rhombomys opimus)
 across 46 monitoring sites in Northwest China from 2020 to 2022. It
 includes data on local vegetation, climate, and the degree of damage
 observed. The study sites cover four provinces in northwestern China,
 i.e., the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, Ningxia Hui
 Autonomous Region, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (36°58’N to
 47°71’N and 82°56’E to 108°66’E). Monitoring records for the past several
 years have confirmed that these areas are the main active areas of R.
 opimus in China. The study area includes a variety of suitable habitats
 (e.g., steppe, Gobi, and desert) for R. opimus. These habitats mainly have
 temperate desert and steppe continental climates, with scarce rain, very
 dry conditions, strong solar radiation, high temperatures, and vigorous
 evaporation.  Within the study area, we selected 46 1-ha sample
 plots to conduct surveys of the activity levels of R. opimus. All plots
 were confirmed to have recorded occurrences of R. opimus in 2019, and each
 plot was spaced at least 100 km2 apart, positioned as far away as possible
 from human settlements. This arrangement was intended to effectively
 represent the vegetation and environmental conditions of various R. opimus
 occurrence areas in China. During the trial period, no artificial
 disturbances, such as hand trapping or the release of poisonous baits,
 occurred in these 46 sample plots during the fall (September-November in
 the Northern Hemisphere) each year from 2020 to 2022. Rodent traps were
 constructed from medium-sized board clips (8 cm × 15 cm), with every 25
 traps arranged in a straight line, spaced 5 m apart, and with a row
 spacing of 20 m, resulting in a total of 100 traps arranged in 4 rows side
 by side. The traps were collected after 24 hours of placement, and only
 the number of captured R. opimus individuals was recorded, without
 counting other rodent species; any loss of traps was considered an
 uncaptured rodent. Additionally, damaged plants were randomly selected
 from 100 shrubs within the sample plots, and only the number of plants
 damaged by R. opimus was recorded.
description: The selection of environmental data was mainly based on our early
 niche study on R. opimus, which included 14 types: the topsoil gravel
 content, elevation, topsoil silt fraction, topsoil organic carbon, topsoil
 pH (H2O), annual mean temperature, precipitation of wettest month, annual
 precipitation, mean temperature of wettest quarter, precipitation of
 warmest quarter, mean temperature of driest quarter. The vegetation data
 were obtained from field surveys at 46 monitoring sites. The age of the
 vegetation in the living area of R. opimus was summarized, i.e., shrubs
 less than 5 years old were considered young, shrubs 5-10 years old were
 considered middle-aged, and shrubs more than 10 years old were considered
 mature plantings. In this study, the survey of rodents was started in 2020
 by using two methods: setting mouse traps and surveying damaged forest
 trees according to the technical standards of the Chinese industry. For
 the mouse trap method, the number of caught rodents &lt; 9 was
 considered mild, 10-19 was considered moderate, and &gt; 20 was
 considered severe. For the survey of damaged forest method, in surveyed
 100 plants, the damage rate &lt; 30% was considered mild, 30-49% was
 considered moderate, and &gt; 50% was considered severe. Among these
 two indicators, the one with higher severity was chosen to represent the
 occurrence of R. opimus in that region. Since vegetation and occurrence
 are degree indicators, values of 1, 2, and 3 were assigned to represent
 the progression of shrubs from young to mature and the increase in
 occurrence from mild to severe.
description: # The vegetation, environment and occurrence of great gerbils in the
 survey site
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0p2ngf29t](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0p2ngf29t) ## Description of the data and file structure This dataset provides essential monitoring information on the Great Gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) collected from 46 monitoring sites in northwest China between 2020 and 2022. It includes 14 types of data related to local vegetation, climate, and hazard levels. ### Files and variables **Name: Fan Jiang, Xuanye Wen** **Institution: Center for Biological Disaster Prevention and Control, National Forestry and Grassland Administration** #### Email: [397803265@qq.com](mailto:397803265@qq.com) ### **Dataset Overview** This dataset provides essential monitoring information on the Great Gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) collected from 46 monitoring sites in northwest China between 2020 and 2022. It includes 11 types of data related to local vegetation, climate, and hazard levels. The selection of environmental data was mainly based on our early niche study on R. opimus-, which included 14 types: the topsoil gravel content, elevation, topsoil silt fraction, topsoil organic carbon, topsoil pH (H2O), annual mean temperature, precipitation of wettest month, annual precipitation, mean temperature of wettest quarter, precipitation of warmest quarter, mean temperature of driest quarter. The vegetation data were obtained from field surveys at 46 monitoring sites. The age of the vegetation in the living area of R. opimus was summarized, i.e., shrubs less than 5 years old were considered young, shrubs 5-10 years old were considered middle-aged, and shrubs more than 10 years old were considered mature plantings. In this study, the survey of rodents was started in 2020 by using two methods: setting mouse traps and surveying damaged forest trees according to the technical standards of the Chinese industry. For the mouse trap method, the number of caught rodents &lt; 9 was considered mild, 10-19 was considered moderate, and &gt; 20 was considered severe. For the survey of damaged forest method, in surveyed 100 plants, the damage rate &lt; 30% was considered mild, 30-49% was considered moderate, and &gt; 50% was considered severe. Among these two indicators, the one with higher severity was chosen to represent the occurrence of R. opimus in that region. Since vegetation and occurrence are degree indicators, values of 1, 2, and 3 were assigned before model construction to represent the progression of shrubs from young to mature and the increase in occurrence from mild to severe. #### **Dates of Data Collection** 2020-2022 #### **Data Spatial Scope** 46 monitoring sites in northwest China #### **Funding** Forestry public welfare industry research special project of China (201404404) #### **Sharing/Access** This work is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication license. #### **Data Sources** The soil and topographic data were obtained from the Harmonized World Soil Database, Including Topsoil Gravel Content, Elevation, Topsoil Silt Fraction, Topsoil Organic Carbon, and PH Topsoil pH (H2O) these 5 kinds of data. The climate data were downloaded from the WorldClim database (version 2.1 climate data) ([http://worldclim.org/data/index.html](http://worldclim.org/data/index.html)), Including Annual mean temperature, Precipitation of Wettest Month (july), Annual Precipitation, Mean Temperature of Wettest Quarter, Precipitation of Warmest Quarter, and Mean Temperature of Driest Quarter these 6 kinds of data. The data of vegetation condition, degree of occurrence last year, and autumn actual degree were obtained through field manual surveys. ### **Description of the data and file structure** This file is in XLS format, generated by Excel software, and contains a single worksheet. The units for variables are: * Topsoil Gravel Content (%) - Elevation (m) * Topsoil Silt Fraction (%) - Topsoil Organic Carbon(%) * pH Topsoil pH (H2O) -log(H+) - Annual mean temperature (℃) * Precipitation of Wettest Month (july) (mm) - Annual Precipitation (mm) * Mean Temperature of Wettest Quarter (℃) - Precipitation of Warmest Quarter (℃) * Mean Temperature of Driest Quarter (℃) - Vegetation condition:  Values of 1, 2, and 3 indicate young, medium, and mature plantings of shrubs, respectively. * Degree of occurrence last year and Autumn actual degree: Values 1, 2,3 indicate mild, moderate, and severe  Rhombomys opimus damage in that survey period, respectively. ## Code/software This data is contained in an XLS file generated by Excel and can be processed using Excel software. Data was derived from the following sources: * [http://worldclim.org/data/index.html](http://worldclim.org/data/index.html) * [http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data](http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data)