dataesr/scientific-paragraphs-categorization huggingface dataset:
Overall, females displayed lower survival than males, although this was only weakly supported by the French dataset. In contrast, only sex differences and no age differences in survival rates were recorded in the UK and Switzerland (females 0. 67 ± 0. 03 and 0. 69 ± 0. 03; males: 0. 81 ± 0. 01 and 0. 75 ± 0. 01, respectively), while both age and sex differences were recorded for France (adult females 0. 62 ± 0. 07, adult males 0. 66 ± 0. 07, juvenile females 0. 49 ± 0. 08, juvenile males 0. 54 ± 0. 08). Therefore, decreasing survival of adult females was unlikely the underlying cause of the decline of common pochard populations in western Europe. Using an age-structured two-sex matrix population model, we show that when adult males experience higher survival than adult females (as it is the case for common pochards), decreasing survival of nests and/or juveniles can trigger decreasing population size and increasing proportions of males at the same time.
The aims of the present study were to assess whether pochards ringed in western Europe experienced a decrease in survival probability, and whether or not this decrease has been affecting females (especially adults) more than males. Indeed, while global declines in survival could account for the observed population decline, a greater decrease in survival rates of females than that of males could in addition explain the observed recent increase in sex-ratio bias towards males  (Brides et al. 2017 ). To achieve these goals, we gathered currently available (i. e. digitized) recapture/recovery dataset collected over the long-term in sites/countries of western Europe representative of likely variable hunting pressure situations. This study therefore includes analyses of both capture-dead recovery and capture-recapture data of individuals ringed in the United Kingdom (two main ringing sites, lower hunting pressure), Switzerland (one main ringing site, lower hunting pressure) and France (one ringing site, higher hunting pressure) over the past 41 years (for hunting bag data in Europe,  Hirschfeld and Attard 2017, Hirschfeld et al.
Material and methods From the Euring databank  (du Feu et al. 2016 ) and the ringing datasets for each country with complete information (including fitted rings that were not recovered), we compiled data for pochards ringed during the wintering season in France (hereafter 'FR'), Switzerland ('CH') and the United Kingdom ('UK') (Supplementary material Appendix 1). We discarded from the analyses any data for which the age or sex of individuals at ringing was not documented (less than 1% of the dataset). In contrast to some other duck species, neither the determination of sex nor that of age is an issue for the pochard  (Mouronval 2016). During winter, all individuals can therefore be easily assigned to two categories: juvenile (aged ≤ 9 months) versus adults (aged ≥ 18-19 months). The CH and UK datasets included 35 years of ringing and dead recoveries , from a number of different ringing sites (two main ringing sites in the UK and one site in CH; Fig.
1 ). The FR dataset spanned 14 years  (2004) (2005) (2006) (2007) (2008) (2009) (2010) (2011) (2012) (2013) (2014) (2015) (2016) (2017)  and originated from a single ringing site (the lake of Grand-lieu, northwest France, Fig. 1 ). These three datasets covered periods of the steepest declines of pochard numbers in western Europe  (1999 ( -2002 ( and 2008 ( -2015 ( , Folliot et al. 2018 ) and were likely representative of a range of situations regularly encountered by pochards in western Europe. Indeed while the UK and CH datasets probably better reflect the 'average' conditions of many sites/ countries of northwestern Europe characterized by low to moderate hunting pressure, Grand-lieu (FR) would be more representative of situations encountered in wetlands such as the Camargue (southern France) and Guadalquivir deltas (southern Spain), where hunting pressure is presumably higher  (Hirschfeld and Attard 2017, Hirschfeld et al.
2019). Unfortunately, Grand-lieu is the only dataset currently available for pochards potentially exposed to a higher hunting pressure and covering periods of both decline and stability of the species in western Europe. In addition to physical recaptures and dead recoveries, the dataset from Grand-lieu also included visual 'recaptures' of individuals fitted with nasal saddles bearing an alphanumeric code  (Rodrigues et al. 2001). Previous studies have shown that the presence of nasal saddle did not negatively affect survival  (Hořák 2002, Regehr and Rodway 2003). More importantly, survival estimates of nasal saddled individuals derived from a CMR analysis of movement patterns were within the range or higher than values previously estimated for this species using regular metal rings only (respectively 0.
66 against 0. 65 for nasal saddled adults, Gourlay-Larour et al. 2013 and ringed only adult females,  Blums et al. 1996). Soiling and loss can become a problem with the 'ageing' of the nasal saddle. A crude estimate indicates that the mark is kept by all individuals and can be read without particular difficulty for at least three years, and a majority of individuals (~80%) still wear a perfectly readable mark for five years (Caizergues unpubl. ). Nevertheless, to mitigate this potential problem, we allowed capture probability to decrease after three years of marking. Finally, some individuals caught in France also wore a reward ring  (Henny and Burnham 1976 , Zimmerman et al. 2009 , Souchay et al. 2014) , as part of an ongoing study aiming to assess hunting mortality (see below). Therefore, compared to CH and UK datasets, the FR dataset included live recaptures and potentially provided higher recovery rates (due to rewards rings) thereby greatly enhancing the potential to detect any effect (e.
g. time, sex) on survival probabilities. Because it included recaptures in addition to ring recoveries and spanned a different period than the CH and UK datasets, the FR dataset was analysed separately. There were no differences in the range of recoveries from each ringing location (Fig. 1 ). While the bulk of direct ring recoveries was from western Europe, a substantial proportion of indirect recoveries spanned over the three putative flyways (Fig. 1 , see also  Folliot et al. 2018). We performed all analyses using conventional, capturemark-recapture/recovery models as described in  Lebreton et al. (2009).
Recaptures-recoveries of individuals ringed on Grand-lieu (FR) In addition to dead-recoveries, the dataset of the individuals ringed on the lake of Grand-lieu included physical and visual recaptures (of individuals fitted with a nasal saddle). To minimize heterogeneity, only individuals caught during winter (from 1 October to 31 December) and recaptures performed between 1 October and 31 December each year were taken into account. We physically recaptured individuals using barrier traps (i. e. a submerged cage with an opening on the side where the diving duck inadvertently enters when feeding) baited with wheat  (Haramis et al. 1982 ) at the ringing site, whereas visual recaptures included data from camera traps placed in front of barrier traps as well as observations by birdwatchers from anywhere in Europe.
Recoveries include data from individuals shot anytime during the regular hunting season (from 1 September to 31 January). A total of 2391 individuals were ringed from 2004 to 2017, with an average of 171 ± 106 (± SD) individuals per year (Supplementary material Appendix). Moreover, the dataset included 760 recaptures (mostly visual) and 403 deadrecoveries throughout the species' distribution range. Since the 2012-2013 hunting season, 173 randomly selected individuals were fitted with a 70-euro reward ring at lake Grandlieu, as part of an ongoing project aimed at estimating harvest rate  (Guillemain et al. unpubl. ). These individuals represented 7. 2% of the total number of individuals considered in the present analysis and 28. 6% of those ringed since 2012. Because reward rings usually display higher recovery probability  (Nichols et al.
Model selection and linear effects of time Both the capture-recoveries of the CH and UK data and capture-recapture-recoveries of Grand-lieu (FR) were fitted using E-SURGE software (ver. 2. 1. 4, Choquet et al. 2009b ) using the parametrizations presented in Supplementary material Appendix 2. Model selection followed a multi-step downward approach. This approach consists in assessing all the effects/factors of interest (starting with the most complex model including, as far as possible, all biologically meaningful effects and their interactions), for each parameter of interest separately, beginning with dead recovery and ending with survival  (Doherty et al. 2012). Model simplification is based on the minimum AIC model as a starting point for the next step  (Burnham and Anderson 2002, Lebreton et al.
2009). For the French dataset, the modelling approach was like that of  Gauthier and Lebreton (2008) , whereby recapture models were first assessed, followed by models for recovery probabilities and then models for survival probabilities. As recommended by  Lebreton and Pradel (2002) , we used the 'multiple random' option to fit the same model 10 tim es from different initial values to avoid local minima (Choquet and Nogue 2011). All resulting probability estimates are expressed with their mean ± standard error (SE). In addition, to test for the hypothesis of a decline in survival over the study period, we also tested a linear trend of survival for each class of individuals (male/female, adult/ juvenile) separately, using analyses of deviance (ANODEV,  Skalski 1996 , Grosbois et al. 2008 , Lebreton et al.
Discussion This study is the first investigation of survival probabilities of both male and female pochards over several decades in  western Europe. It provides updated survival data for females, that could be the cornerstone of future models of adaptive harvesting of this species in Europe, and gives useful insights into the understanding of the causes of the decline in numbers  (Folliot et al. 2018). Based on extensive datasets collected over large spatial scales, covering a wide array of environmental conditions and anthropic pressures (including hunting pressure) potentially experienced by pochards, we could not gather evidence for decreasing survival of adult females. Our results, therefore, do not support that decreasing survival of adult females (due to increasing predation pressure during the nesting period) is the underlying cause of the decline of pochard in western Europe  (Fox et al.
2016 , Brides et al. 2017). When evidenced (Grand-lieu lake, France), the temporal variations in adult female survival did not display any particular trend over years. One may argue that the limited numbers of recoveries may have impaired the detection of temporal changes in survival for the datasets of CH and UK. However, the estimates of adult female survival ringed in these areas were higher than those reported in Europe before the population decline (adult females = 0. 59 at Engure lake in Latvia,  Blums et al. 1996   in  Blums et al. 1996 , see  White and Burnham 1999). Moreover, we did not detect any decrease in adult female's survival in France (average survival of adult female 0. 63 ± 0. 02), even though the analyses benefited for greatly enhanced testing power thanks to the availability of live recaptures and resighting data (both temporal variations of survival and linear trend were detected for adult males and juvenile females in this dataset).
We could not gather reliable data about hunting pressure over the whole study period. However, according to recently estimated hunting bags, the hunting pressure would be higher in FR than in both UK and CH  (Guillemain et al. 2016, Hirschfeld and Attard 2017). Indeed, although the lake of Grand-lieu itself is a strictly protected area, hunting pressure can reach high levels in its direct vicinity (300-800 pochard would be killed each year out of 3000-5000 counted at the peak of the wintering season; Reeber 2016). In France, the hunting bag during the 2013-2014 season was ca 25 000 individuals out of 65 000 counted in January  (Guillemain et al. 2016). The hunting pressure is much lower in the United Kingdom and almost null in Switzerland, with an annual bag for the 2013-2014 hunting season estimated around 2500 (Hearn, unpubl.
2013). Alternatively, the difference in survival rates between juveniles and adults could be more pronounced under higher hunting pressure (FR), owing to greater susceptibility of juveniles to this source of mortality  (Krementz et al. 1987 , Christensen 2001). In other words, differences in survival between juveniles and adults could decrease in areas with lower hunting pressure, as well as after 1 December, which is the date when the newly marked individuals were considered in the analyses in Switzerland and United Kingdom. In France, where juveniles were found to display lower survival rates than adults, the date when the newly marked individuals were considered in the analyses was earlier, i. e. 1 October. There were therefore more opportunities for any age differences to become apparent in the French than in the Swiss or the British datasets.
Acknowledgements -BF PhD was supported by the  Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage and Tour du Valat. We thank all the bird ringers for their work and the many hunters who reported their ring recoveries over the years. A special thanks to  Olivier Duriez ,  Nicholas Aebischer ,  Todd W. Arnold  and  Jón Einar Jónsson  for their advice which greatly improved the original manuscript.
The core of the French equine traceability system is the census database (SIRE) managed by the French horse and riding institute (IFCE). Following the death of an equine, owners are legally obliged to take charge of cadaver removal by contacting a rendering company directly or after registration on the national ATM-équidés ANGEE association (ATM) website, which proposes negotiated prices for removal and recording of the death in the SIRE database. Despite these offers, ATM notes few users. Owners are also legally obliged to return the equine's passport to the IFCE, but only 30-40% of owners comply with the regulation. Rendering companies register data on equine mortality in the fallen stock data interchange database (FSDI), but it is difficult to crossreference these data with SIRE data. Consequently, the death of equines is not well registered in the SIRE database.
ATM and rendering company services. The lack of simple and quick removal procedures and the lack of any connection between ATM and the rendering companies were among the main drawbacks identified. Regarding the return of the passport to the IFCE, most responding owners returned it through the rendering company (65%) or directly (2%). The passport was returned significantly more frequently when requested by the renderers. The main reason for not providing the passport was the owner wanted to keep it as a souvenir. These results suggest that ATM and the rendering companies are key players in dead equine traceability. ATM services should be developed through the establishment of a direct connection with rendering companies to accelerate the cadaver removal request and to allow the cross-referencing of data between the ATM, FSDI and SIRE databases for a better dead equine traceability.
Introduction Traceability is a crucial component of an effective animal health and food safety system. It enables a precise and rapid emergency response to protect the animal population, producers and consumers  (McKean, 2001). (Robin et al. , 2011; Hartig et al. , 2013a , Amat et al. , 2015). The core of the French equine traceability system is the central census database (SIRE), managed by the French horse and riding institute (IFCE). This database registers individual information, including identification number, microchip number, date of birth, date of death (when known), sex and breed. This centralisation in the SIRE database hinges on the participation of French equine owners, who are the legal traceability pillars, being responsible for not only the initial identification request but also for notifying the IFCE of any changers during an equine's life (sale, castration, death).
After the horsemeat scandal (undeclared horsemeat found in frozen beef lasagne) that occurred in France in 2013, strengthening the dead equine traceability for all equines has appeared essential to avoid i) any fraudulent use of the equine's passport and ii) the slaughtering of equines excluded from human consumption to enhance the security of the food chain and ensure the consumer protection  (Permanandh, 2013; Sarpong, 2013; Kulas, 2014). Therefore, in the event of death (natural or by euthanasia), owners are legally obliged to return the equine's passport to the IFCE for invalidation within 30 legal days to prevent any later fraudulent use  (Commission Regulation [EC]  No. 262/2015). Moreover, the passport's return allows the live equine population's information to be updated in the SIRE database.
However, only 30-40% of owners return their animal's passport to the IFCE, and often a long time after its death  (IFCE, personal communication). This delay is due to the fact that owners rarely return the passport to the IFCE directly, but instead entrust it to the local rendering company, which is the first professional contact after the animal's death. Therefore, even if around 97% of French equines are currently registered in the SIRE database  (IFCE, personal communication) , the quality of the information on their status (alive or dead) and their date of death is very poor. In practical terms, owners currently have to organize cadaver removal themselves by contacting the local rendering company directly or after registration on the ATM-équidés ANGEE association 1 (ATM) website, which is managed by the IFCE.
The advantages of using ATM services are cheaper removal for owners and direct registration of the equine's death in the SIRE database. However, using ATM services does not avoid having to contact the local rendering company to make an appointment for removal, as there is currently no connection between ATM and rendering companies. Moreover, owners still have to return the equine's passport to the IFCE. Lastly, although the number of owners that use ATM services is increasing, it still remains low (20% of all equine removals in 2017; ATM, personal communication). Another source of information on equine mortality is the fallen stock data interchange database (FSDI) managed by the French Ministry of Agriculture and filled in by rendering companies. This database collects information 1 The ATM-équidés ANGEE association was created in 2009 following the disappearance of the public rendering service, which was replaced by private companies.
Its operation shall be entrusted to the IFCE and it offers owners negotiated prices for cadaver removal in order to limit illegal burial and provide rendering companies with a guaranteed payment. on all dead equines removed by rendering companies, in particular the removal request date, the removal date and the equine's category (saddle horse, draft horse, pony or donkey). This database has the potential to be used in a syndromic surveillance based on equine mortality  (Cazeau et al. , 2018). The care and the maintenance of a horse is often associated with significant costs which owners may be unwilling or unable to pay. Until then, these "unwanted" horses were sent to slaughter and ended up in the food chain but the recent reinforcement of the traceability regulation increases the number of the horses excluded from the food chain thus increases the risk of convenience euthanasia of "unwanted" horses.
This potential increase represents a drawback for the syndromic surveillance in which the mortality is monitored to early detect an outbreak. Nevertheless, the animal identification number is not always collected and only some of these data (13% between 2011 and 2014) can thus be used to update the live equine population in the SIRE database  (Tapprest et al. , 2017). In this context, the aim of our study was to identify levers that could be used to improve dead equine traceability by i) investigating equine owners' perception of ATM and rendering company services and ii) identifying the drawbacks of the procedure whereby owners must return their animal's passport to the IFCE or hand it over to rendering companies.
Among equines under 12 months, 66% were unidentified (n=45) and 1% of equines that had reached the mandatory age were also unidentified (n=8). These latter were over 20 years old and received a waiver from the ATM to use their services (data not shown). As for unidentified young equines, a provisional SIRE number was given by the IFCE to the owners of these animals. Table  1  Owners' perception of ATM services Most owners were satisfied or very satisfied (91%, n=775) with ATM services. Among the 73 dissatisfied owners, the reported reasons for discontent were mainly related to the difficulties in finding information regarding cadaver removal (49. 3%), the webpage design (38. 4%) and the unintuitive removal procedure (21. 9%) (Figure  2 ). The 36 free comments revealed that the lack of connection between ATM and rendering companies was considered an important drawback in the procedure (n=10) (Figure  2 ).
Overall, the median time taken between payment for removal on the ATM web page and actual removal was 2-4 days. A small number (2%) of owners mentioned a period of over 6 days (data not shown). Of the 73 owners dissatisfied with ATM's service, 23% confused ATM and rendering companies, giving reasons for dissatisfaction not due to ATM: "Difficulties in contacting the rendering company", "Long time between appointment and removal" and "Lack of compassion on the part of the telephone operator" (Figure  2 ). Figure  3  Figure  4  Handing over of the equine's passport to the rendering company The questions in this part only concerned the 772 owners with equines having reached the mandatory age for identification and with a passport. Among them, 65% (n=505) gave their equine's passport to the renderer during removal either spontaneously (29%) or because it was requested by the renderer (84%) (Table  2 ).
Then, these bias limit generalisation of results to all owners. However, we do believe that the sample obtained allowed to achieve our goal to identify levers that could be used to improve dead equine traceability. Responses came from all French administrative regions and their spatial distribution showed a logical concentration in the main areas for equine breeding and equine use  (IFCE, 2017). The dead equine population sample appeared to be representative of the live equine population estimated each year by the IFCE in terms of breed categories  (IFCE, 2017). Our study included 39% of saddle horses versus 43% in the SIRE database, 23% of ponies versus 25%, 19% of race horses versus 16%, 6% of draft horses versus 7%, and 4% of donkeys versus 9% (IFCE, 2017). Most owners were globally satisfied with ATM and rendering company removal services.
This appreciation is consistent with the results of a 2013 survey among equine owners carried out by the national fallen stock data company in the UK  (nfsco, 2013). However, some French owners pointed out the difficulties they had in finding and following the procedures. This highlighted the importance of establishing effective, consistent communication between the key players: ATM and the rendering companies. The fact that owners confused ATM and the rendering companies also supported the importance of improving this communication. The long delay before animal removal was also pointed out by a large number of dissatisfied owners. In contrast to the time taken between declaration of the animal's death on the ATM web page and appointment scheduling, the time between appointment scheduling and removal depends exclusively on rendering companies.