CaPTrends: A database of large carnivoran population trends from around the world

Abstract

Motivation: Population trend information is an ‘essential biodiversity variable’ for monitoring change in biodiversity over time. Here, we present a database of 1,122 population trends from around the world, describing changes in abundance over time in large mammal species (n = 50) from four families in the order Carnivora. For this subset of taxa, we provide approximately 21 times more trends than BioTIME and three times more trends than the Living Planet database. Main types of variables included: Key data fields for each trend: species, coordinates, trend time-frame, methods of data collection and analysis, and population time series or summarized trend value. Population trend values are reported using quantitative metrics in 75% of records that collectively represent more than 6,500 population estimates. The remaining records qualitatively describe population change (e.g., increase). Spatial location and grain: Trends represent 621 unique locations across the globe (latitude: −51.0 to 80.0; longitude: −166.0 to 166.0). Most trends (86%) are found within the Northern Hemisphere. Time period and grain: On average (mean), trends are derived from 6.5 abundance observations, and span in time from 1726 to 2017, with 92% of trends starting after 1950. Major taxa and level of measurement: We conducted a semi-systematic search for population trend data in 87 species from four families in the order Carnivora: Canidae, Felidae, Hyaenidae and Ursidae. We compiled data for 50 of the 87 species.