The present dataset from Germany is encompassed in the European Biodiversa BioRodDis project (Managing BIOdiversity in forests and urban green spaces: Dilution and amplification effects on RODent microbiomes and rodent-borne DISeases. Project coordinator: Nathalie Charbonnel, Senior researcher (DR2, INRAE), nathalie.charbonnel@inrae.fr - https://www6.inrae.fr/biodiversa-bioroddis). The project comes with the purpose to explore on a large scale the relationship between biodiversity of rodents, rodent-borne diseases dynamics and differences over time in a changing climate and it includes data of small terrestrial mammals from temperate forests and urban parks from the following countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and Poland. The present dataset includes records of small mammals (Rodentia) occurrences trapped in urbanised and forested areas in northeast Germany in the district of Potsdam (Brandenburg). Samplings and data collection took place throughout three years and during a total of four seasons: winter 2020, spring 2021, autumn 2021 and spring 2022. The number of sampling sites varied between 2 and 4 per seasons, with two main sites (Germany EastA and Germany EastB) being permanent in each sampling season. These variations are mainly due to the impact of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic regulations (2020, 2021) on the organisation and the execution of fieldwork and to the exclusion subsequently of forested sites with very low density of animals (≤10 individuals: Germany EastC, Germany EastB). The two main sampling sites represent different levels of anthropisation. The site Germany EastA is around the Botanical Garden belonging to the University of Potsdam with a mixture of sealed and wooded areas and a constant human presence while the site Germany EastB is a forested sub-urbanised area outside of the city composed by mixed coniferous forests, meadows, crossed by a main road and with occasional human presence (hunters, foresters). All animals were live captured (as in Schirmer et al., 2019) using a combination of Ugglan and Longworth traps for a total of 100-150 traps, depending on site and year. Traps were placed in 4 to 6 lines with 25m distance, and each line was composed by a total of 25 traps placed with 10m distance from each other. Fieldwork actions generally started with 1-4 days of pre-baiting followed by 1-10 days of trapping, according to efficiency of trapping and subprojects included. The sites Germany EastC and Germany EastD were excluded from the last two seasons because of very low trapping success during the previous seasons. All the traps were controlled daily during early morning hours and were activated again in the evening, with animals spending not more than eight hours in the trap. Baiting mixture consisted of oat flakes and apples and all traps were equipped with insulating material, like hay or wood wool. Taxonomical identification was determined in the field at species level according to morphology and previously recorded species occurrences in the sampling area (Dolch, 1995). Molecular identification of Apodemus flavicollis and Microtus individuals that were subsequently dissected was performed by the CBGP (France) using CO1 sequencing for Microtus species following Pagès et al., 2010, and DNA fingerprinting (AP-PCR) for Apodemus species (Bugarski-Stanojević et al., 2013). Dissections and body measurements were performed following the protocols described in Herbreteau et al., 2011. At the end of all seasons, a total of 620 occurrences of rodents was recorded, belonging to two main families (Muridae, Cricetidae) and four different species (Apodemus flavicollis, Apodemus agrarius, Myodes glareolus and Microtus arvalis). Additionally, for a subset of individuals (n=264), body measurements like weight, body length, head width, tail length and hind foot length as well as sexual maturity data were recorded. Animals were captured in accordance with the applicable international and institutional guidelines for the use of animals in research. The trapping and collection of rodents was performed under the permission of “Landesamt für Arbeitsschutz, Verbraucherschutz und Gesundheit Brandenburg (LAVG)“ (no. 2347-A-16-1-2020 for procedure, LUGV_RW7-4744/41+5#243052/2015 and N1 0424 for trapping) and “Landesamt für Umwelt Brandenburg (LfU)” (no. LFU-N1-4744/97+17#194297/2020, for sites and species exemptions). This project was funded through the 2018-2019 BiodivERsA joint call for research proposals, under the BiodivERsA3 ERA-Net COFUND programme, and coordinated by the German Science Foundation DFG (Germany). Citations: 1) Bugarski-Stanojević, V., Blagojević, J., Adnađević, T., Jovanović, V., & Vujošević, M. (2013). Identification of the sibling species Apodemus sylvaticus and Apodemus flavicollis (Rodentia, Muridae)—Comparison of molecular methods. Zoologischer Anzeiger - A Journal of Comparative Zoology, 252(4), 579–587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2012.11.004 2) Dolch, D. (1995). Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege in Brandenburg. 97. 3) Herbreteau, V., Jittapalapong, S., Rerkamnuaychoke, W., Chaval, Y., Cosson, J.-F., & Morand, S. (2011). Protocols for field and laboratory rodent studies. 56. 4) Pagès, M., Chaval, Y., Herbreteau, V., Waengsothorn, S., Cosson, J.-F., Hugot, J.-P., Morand, S., & Michaux, J. (2010). Revisiting the taxonomy of the Rattini tribe: A phylogeny-based delimitation of species boundaries. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 10(1), 184. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-10-184 5) Schirmer, A., Herde, A., Eccard, J. A., & Dammhahn, M. (2019). Individuals in space: Personality-dependent space use, movement and microhabitat use facilitate individual spatial niche specialization. Oecologia, 189(3), 647–660. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04365-5
Ein Vergleich der Artendiversität von antarktischen und arktischen Cyanobakterienmatten (Cyanomatten) durch unsere Arbeitsgruppe weist auf eine überraschend hohe Übereinstimmungsrate der Arten hin (Kleinteich et al. 2017). Da es höchst unwahrscheinlich ist, dass sich diese Arten unabhängig voneinander in beiden polaren Regionen entwickelten, wird vermutet, dass Vögel oder Aerosole den Transport von Cyanomatten von der Arktis in die Antarktis ermöglichen. Entsprechend untersucht dieses Projekt den Einfluss des Klimawandels auf die potentielle Etablierung von Temperatur-toleranteren, nicht-endemischen Cyanobakterien (Xeno-Cyano) und deren Parasiten (Xeno-Parasiten) in antarktischen Gebieten und welche Konsequenzen dies für das antarktische Cyanomatten-Ökosystem hat. Wir konnten durch frühere Experimente den Einfluss von erhöhter Temperatur auf die Artendiversität und Toxinproduktion in antarktischen Cyanomatten nachweisen (Kleinteich et al. 2012). Da antarktische Gebiete einem kontinuierlichen Verlust der Eisdecke ausgesetzt sind, liegt die Vermutung nahe, dass nicht-endemische Cyanobakterien bisher unbesiedelte Gebiete erschließen bzw. werden endemische Cyanobakterien aufgrund ihrer schlechteren Anpassung an nicht-endemische Parasiten aus bereits besiedelten Gebieten verdrängt. Entsprechend hat dieses Projekt vier Hauptziele: Fest zu stellen ob 1.) sich in historischen Cyanomatten (1902, Scott Expedition) und den letzten 30 Jahren (1990, 1999/2000, 2010, 2021/2022) aus Rothera, Byers Halbinsel und McMurdo diese Xeno-Cyano und -Parasiten nachweisen lassen; 2.) Cyanomatten aus Spitzbergen eine vergleichbare Speziesverteilung (Cyanobakterien, Viren und Pilze) aufweisen wie auf der antarktischen Halbinsel (vermuteter Haupteintragungsort arktischer Spezies über Aerosole oder Vögel); 3.) eine Temperaturerhöhung durch Plexiglasabdeckung in den Cyanomatten auf Rothera und Byers zu einer Veränderung der Cyanodiversität, Toxinproduktion und verstärkt Parasitierung durch Viren und Pilze führt; und 4.) die Infektion mit arktischen Cyanomatten und Temperaturerhöhung bei antarktischen Cyanomatten im Labor nachweislich zu Veränderungen der endemischen Cyanomattendiversität führt. Die Diversitätsanalyse der Cyanomatten erfolgt durch Illumina (16S, ITS, g20 Gene) und Shotgun Sequenzierung. Die Abundanz von Viren und Pilzen wird durch ddPCR bestimmt und der Nachweis der Cyanotoxine erfolgt durch PCR, ELISA und UPLC-MS/MS. Die erhobenen Daten dürften die Eroberung und hiermit profunde voranschreitende Veränderung des antarktischen Cyanomattensystems durch nicht-endemische Spezies nachweisen. Durch die SARS-Cov2 Pandemie konnte die Hypothese, dass Vögel die Vektoren von Cyanomatten-Material sind, nicht getestet werden. Dennoch werden wir Cyanomatten aus unmittelbarer Nähe zu Vogelnistplätzen in Spitzbergen untersuchen. GPS-tracking Daten sollten mögliche Zusammenhänge zwischen Vogelmigration und der Verbreitung nicht-endemischer Cyanos und ihrer Parasiten aufdecken.