data_bird.RdThis dataset was derived from NEON data portal with data product ID 'DP1.10003.001'. Details about this data product can be found at https://data.neonscience.org/data-products/DP1.10003.001.
data_birdA data frame (also a tibble) with the following columns:
location_id: Location id.
siteID: NEON site code.
plotID: Plot identifier (NEON site code_XXX).
pointID: Identifier for a point location.
unique_sample_id: Identity of unique samples, usually it has location and date information.
observation_datetime: Observation date and time.
taxon_id: Accepted species code, based on one or more sources.
taxon_name: Scientific name, associated with the taxonID. This is the name
of the lowest level taxonomic rank that can be determined.
taxon_rank: The lowest level taxonomic rank that can be determined for the individual or specimen.
variable_name: The variable name(s) represented by the value column.
value: Value of the variable(s) specified by variable_name. NA represents no bird observed.
unit: Unit of the values in the value column.
pointCountMinute: The minute of sampling within the point count period.
targetTaxaPresent: Indicator of whether the sample contained individuals of the target taxa.
nativeStatusCode: The process by which the taxon became established in the location.
'A': Presumed absent, due to lack of data indicating a taxon's presence in a given location;
'N': Native; 'I': Introduced; 'UNK': Status unknown.
observerDistance: Radial distance between the observer and the individual(s) being observed (unit: meter).
detectionMethod: How the individual(s) was (were) first detected by the observer.
visualConfirmation: Whether the individual(s) was (were) seen after the initial detection.
sexOrAge: Sex of individual if detectable, age of individual if individual can not be sexed.
release: Version of data release by NEON.
startCloudCoverPercentage: Observer estimate of percent cloud cover at start of sampling.
endCloudCoverPercentage: Observer estimate of percent cloud cover at end of sampling.
startRH: Relative humidity as measured by handheld weather meter at the start of sampling.
endRH: Relative humidity as measured by handheld weather meter at the end of sampling.
observedHabitat: Observer assessment of dominant habitat at the sampling point at sampling time.
observedAirTemp: The air temperature (celsius) measured with a handheld weather meter.
kmPerHourObservedWindSpeed: The average wind speed measured with a handheld weather meter, in kilometers per hour.
samplingProtocolVersion: The NEON document number and version where detailed information regarding the sampling method used is available; format 'NEON.DOC.######vX'.
remarks: Remarks of record.
clusterCode: Alphabetic code (A-Z) linked to clusters (groups of individuals of the same species) spanning multiple records. It is only used to link clusters that take up multiple lines on the data sheet.
latitude: The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, WGS84) of the geographic center of the reference area.
longitude: The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, WGS84) of the geographic center of the reference area.
elevation: Elevation (in meters) above sea level.
nlcdClass: National Land Cover Database Vegetation Type Name.
plotType: NEON plot type in which sampling occurred: tower, distributed or gradient.
The bird data provided by NEON is already well organized. We only removed some columns that likely won't be used in biodiversity studies. These columns include: 'identifiedBy', 'measuredBy', 'laboratoryName', 'samplingImpractical', 'samplingImpracticalRemarks', 'publicationDate', 'technicianID', 'observerInstitutionName', 'evaluationMethod', and 'evaluationScore'. If any of these information is important for the specific question asked by users, they should modify our code accordingly or download the raw data from NEON data portal directly. We also removed records without 'taxon_id'.
Details of locations (e.g. latitude/longitude coordinates can be found in neon_location). The sampling protocol has evolved over time, so users are advised to check whether the samplingProtocolVersion fits their data requirements and subset as necessary.