DOI: 10.5061/dryad.jsxksn0pd
title: Data from: High overlap of extant mammal ranges with sediment sinks indicates high fossilization potential of total diversity

description: Mammalian species richness is commonly highest at mid- to high-elevations,
 but the accumulation of sediment that might bury and preserve skeletal
 remains generally occurs at lower elevations, leading to concerns that
 fossil assemblages are biased towards low-elevation taxa. Here, I use
 extant mammals as an analogue to test the basin-scale spatial overlap
 between species ranges and sediment sinks where burial and fossilization
 would be possible. Sediment sinks are estimated within five
 topographically complex regions in western North America by identifying
 areas with both a low slope and a high contributing area of runoff and are
 compared with point occurrences of mammals compiled from the Global
 Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). I find that, among the test
 areas, 82-96% of all species have occurrences that overlap with a sediment
 sink, despite common offsets in the elevations of maximum sink area and
 maximum species richness: summed across all test areas, 83% of species and
 87% of total sediment sink area are found in the lowest 1000 m of the test
 areas. Although many other factors can act against the fossilization of
 terrestrial mammals, these results indicate that the spatial distribution
 of mammal species with respect to sediment sinks should not in itself
 impose a major bias at the basin scale.
description: # Data from: High overlap of extant mammal ranges with sediment sinks
 indicates high fossilization potential of total diversity Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.jsxksn0pd](10.5061/dryad.jsxksn0pd) ## Description of the
 data and file structure This dataset includes primary results for each
 test area. Links to download the raw occurrence data are included in
 "Access Information". ### Files and variables #### File:
 1A_AKbinresults.csv **Description:** Key results of this study for the
 Alaska test area, by 100 meter bins. ##### Variables * bin: Value
 represents the lower bound of a 100m bin in the test area. * spcount:
 Number of species in each bin. Species are assumed to be present in each
 bin between their lowest and highest occurring elevations in the test
 area. * area: Total area of sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 primaryarea: Area of primary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 secondarea: Area of secondary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 thirdarea: Area of tertiary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 cumulativesp: Cumulative species in each bin, when aggregating from lowest
 to highest elevation. * cumspprop: Cumulative percentage of species in
 each bin, when aggregating from lowest to highest elevation. #### File:
 1B_AZbinresults.csv **Description:** Key results of this study for the
 Arizona test area, by 100 meter bins. ##### Variables * bin: Value
 represents the lower bound of a 100m bin in the test area. * spcount:
 Number of species in each bin. Species are assumed to be present in each
 bin between their lowest and highest occurring elevations in the test
 area. * area: Total area of sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 primaryarea: Area of primary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 secondarea: Area of secondary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 thirdarea: Area of tertiary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 cumulativesp: Cumulative species in each bin, when aggregating from lowest
 to highest elevation. * cumspprop: Cumulative percentage of species in
 each bin, when aggregating from lowest to highest elevation. #### File:
 1C_CAbinresults.csv **Description:** Key results of this study for the
 California test area, by 100 meter bins. ##### Variables * bin: Value
 represents the lower bound of a 100m bin in the test area. * spcount:
 Number of species in each bin. Species are assumed to be present in each
 bin between their lowest and highest occurring elevations in the test
 area. * area: Total area of sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 primaryarea: Area of primary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 secondarea: Area of secondary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 thirdarea: Area of tertiary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 cumulativesp: Cumulative species in each bin, when aggregating from lowest
 to highest elevation. * cumspprop: Cumulative percentage of species in
 each bin, when aggregating from lowest to highest elevation. #### File:
 1D_CObinresults.csv **Description:** Key results of this study for the
 Colorado test area, by 100 meter bins. ##### Variables * bin: Value
 represents the lower bound of a 100m bin in the test area. * spcount:
 Number of species in each bin. Species are assumed to be present in each
 bin between their lowest and highest occurring elevations in the test
 area. * area: Total area of sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 primaryarea: Area of primary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 secondarea: Area of secondary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 thirdarea: Area of tertiary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 cumulativesp: Cumulative species in each bin, when aggregating from lowest
 to highest elevation. * cumspprop: Cumulative percentage of species in
 each bin, when aggregating from lowest to highest elevation. #### File:
 1E_WYbinresults.csv **Description:** Key results of this study for the
 Wyoming test area, by 100 meter bins. ##### Variables * bin: Value
 represents the lower bound of a 100m bin in the test area. * spcount:
 Number of species in each bin. Species are assumed to be present in each
 bin between their lowest and highest occurring elevations in the test
 area. * area: Total area of sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 primaryarea: Area of primary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 secondarea: Area of secondary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 thirdarea: Area of tertiary sediment sinks (km^2^) in each bin. *
 cumulativesp: Cumulative species in each bin, when aggregating from lowest
 to highest elevation. * cumspprop: Cumulative percentage of species in
 each bin, when aggregating from lowest to highest elevation. #### File:
 2A_AKsinkresults.csv **Description:** Key results of this study for the
 Alaska test area, by individual sediment sinks. ##### Variables * id: ID #
 for sink. * area: Area of sink (m^2^). * min_elev: Minimum elevation (m)
 within sink. * max_elev: Maximum elevation (m) within sink. * mean_elev:
 Mean elevation (m) within sink. * occurrences: Number of occurrences
 within sink. * area_km: Area of sink (km^2^). * log_area_km: Log (10) of
 area of sink (km^2^). * occ_present: Presence (1) or absence (0) of
 occurrences within sink. * basin_code: Status of sink based on area:
 primary (1), secondary (2), tertiary (3). #### File: 2B_AZsinkresults.csv
 **Description:** Key results of this study for the Arizona test area, by
 individual sediment sinks. ##### Variables * id: ID # for sink. * area:
 Area of sink (m^2^). * min_elev: Minimum elevation (m) within sink. *
 max_elev: Maximum elevation (m) within sink. * mean_elev: Mean elevation
 (m) within sink. * occurrences: Number of occurrences within sink. *
 area_km: Area of sink (km^2^). * log_area_km: Log (10) of area of sink
 (km^2^). * occ_present: Presence (1) or absence (0) of occurrences within
 sink. * basin_code: Status of sink based on area: primary (1), secondary
 (2), tertiary (3). #### File: 2D_COsinkresults.csv **Description:** Key
 results of this study for the Colorado test area, by individual sediment
 sinks. ##### Variables * id: ID # for sink. * area: Area of sink (m^2^). *
 min_elev: Minimum elevation (m) within sink. * max_elev: Maximum elevation
 (m) within sink. * mean_elev: Mean elevation (m) within sink. *
 occurrences: Number of occurrences within sink. * area_km: Area of sink
 (km^2^). * log_area_km: Log (10) of area of sink (km^2^). * occ_present:
 Presence (1) or absence (0) of occurrences within sink. * basin_code:
 Status of sink based on area: primary (1), secondary (2), tertiary (3).
 #### File: 2C_CAsinkresults.csv **Description:** Key results of this study
 for the California test area, by individual sediment sinks. #####
 Variables * id: ID # for sink. * area: Area of sink (m^2^). * min_elev:
 Minimum elevation (m) within sink. * max_elev: Maximum elevation (m)
 within sink. * mean_elev: Mean elevation (m) within sink. * occurrences:
 Number of occurrences within sink. * area_km: Area of sink (km^2^). *
 log_area_km: Log (10) of area of sink (km^2^). * occ_present: Presence (1)
 or absence (0) of occurrences within sink. * basin_code: Status of sink
 based on area: primary (1), secondary (2), tertiary (3). #### File:
 2E_WYsinkresults.csv **Description:** Key results of this study for the
 Wyoming test area, by individual sediment sinks. ##### Variables * id: ID
 # for sink. * area: Area of sink (m^2^). * min_elev: Minimum elevation (m)
 within sink. * max_elev: Maximum elevation (m) within sink. * mean_elev:
 Mean elevation (m) within sink. * occurrences: Number of occurrences
 within sink. * area_km: Area of sink (km^2^). * log_area_km: Log (10) of
 area of sink (km^2^). * occ_present: Presence (1) or absence (0) of
 occurrences within sink. * basin_code: Status of sink based on area:
 primary (1), secondary (2), tertiary (3). ## Access information Data was
 derived from the following sources: * Raw data was downloaded from the
 Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) for each of the five test
 areas in this study. Two queries were performed for each of the five
 areas: one included only occurrences from the iNaturalist dataset and one
 included all occurrences of preserved specimens. Each query only included
 occurrences recorded from 2000 to 2024 with coordinates. The raw datasets
 can be download using the links below. Descriptions of variables can be
 found on the [occurrence download format
 page](https://techdocs.gbif.org/en/data-use/download-formats). * Raw data
 from the iNaturalist GBIF dataset for the Alaska test area:
 [10.15468/dl.h63mvb.](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download/0016429-240229165702484) Raw data from all preserved specimens in GBIF datasets for the Alaska test area: [10.15468/dl.3mjx3j](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download/0016430-240229165702484) Raw data from the iNaturalist GBIF dataset for the Arizona test area: [10.15468/dl.5dsp7c](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download/0151155-240321170329656)[.](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download/0016429-240229165702484) Raw data from all preserved specimens in GBIF datasets for the Arizona test area: [10.15468/dl.jt3epn](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download/0151160-240321170329656) Raw data from the iNaturalist GBIF dataset for the California test area: [10.15468/dl.gbrhdq](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download/0016248-240229165702484) Raw data from all preserved specimens in GBIF datasets for the California test area: [10.15468/dl.emcnux](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download/0016211-240229165702484) Raw data from the iNaturalist GBIF dataset for the Colorado test area: [10.15468/dl.zwnmh2](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download/0016324-240229165702484) Raw data from all preserved specimens in GBIF datasets for the Colorado test area: [10.15468/dl.crns7s](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download/0016318-240229165702484) Raw data from the iNaturalist GBIF dataset for the Wyoming test area: [10.15468/dl.d7vzug](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download/0016400-240229165702484) Raw data from all preserved specimens in GBIF datasets for the Wyoming test area: [10.15468/dl.9463md](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download/0016402-240229165702484)