Camera trap and questionnaire dataset on ecosystem services provided by small carnivores in agro-ecosystems in South Africa.

This dataset includes data derived from camera trap surveys and questionnaire surveys relating to small carnivores in agro-ecosystems in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, South Africa. The data were collected as part of the study "Predation by small mammalian carnivores in rural agro-ecosystems: An undervalued ecosystem service?" (Williams et al., 2017a) [1]. Camera trap locations were stratified by land use: settlement, crops, and grazing areas. The camera trap data provide an insight into the ecology of the nine species of small carnivores that were recorded: striped polecat (Ictonyx striatus), honey badger (Mellivora capensis), large-spotted genet (Genetta maculata), African civet (Civettictis civetta), slender mongoose (Galerella sanguinea), Meller's mongoose (Rhynchogale melleri), Selous' mongoose (Paracynictis selousi), white tailed mongoose (Ichneumia albicauda), and dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula). We also recorded domesticated animals such as domestic cats (Felis catus), domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), and cattle (Bos taurus) on the camera traps. The questionnaire data are comprised of responses of stakeholders to questions regarding the impacts of these species on rural farming communities. In the accompanying data repository hosted on Figshare (doi 10.6084/m9.figshare.4750807, (Williams et al., 2017b) [2]) we provide raw data, along with processed data and R code used to analyse these data to determine the impact of land use and domestic animals on the species richness and occupancy of small carnivores in rural agro-ecosystems (Williams et al., 2017a) [1].

Animal taxa contrast in their scale-dependent responses to land use change in rural Africa.

Human-dominated landscapes comprise the bulk of the world's terrestrial surface and Africa is predicted to experience the largest relative increase over the next century. A multi-scale approach is required to identify processes that maintain diversity in these landscapes. Here we identify scales at which animal diversity responds by partitioning regional diversity in a rural African agro-ecosystem between one temporal and four spatial scales. Human land use practices are the main driver of diversity in all seven animal assemblages considered, with medium sized mammals and birds most affected. Even the least affected taxa, bats and non-volant small mammals (rodents), responded with increased abundance in settlements and agricultural sites respectively. Regional turnover was important to invertebrate taxa and their response to human land use was intermediate between that of the vertebrate extremes. Local scale (< 300 m) heterogeneity was the next most important level for all taxa, highlighting the importance of fine scale processes for the maintenance of biodiversity. Identifying the triggers of these changes within the context of functional landscapes would provide the context for the long-term sustainability of these rapidly changing landscapes.