Description
The dataset was collected through systematic at-sea surveys following the standardized 'European Seabirds at Sea' protocol. These surveys were conducted as part of the LIFE Artina project over a two-year period, from May 2019 to May 2021.
Data Records
The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 696 records.
2 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
| Version | Published on | Records | Change summary | DOI handle | Last modified by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1.6 | 2025-02-05 08:56:24 | 696 | Added "Aves" in the Class attribute. | Luka Katušić | |
| 1.4 | 2024-10-22 11:24:32 | 6,825 | Small changes done in the metadata | Luka Katušić | |
| 1.3 | 2024-10-15 13:26:49 | 6,825 | Small changes done in the metadata | Luka Katušić |
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Engelen D, Ječmenica B, Mihalić I (2025). LIFE Artina (LIFE17 NAT/HR/000594) - Sea transect data 2019-2021 - Lastovo Archipelago, Croatia. Version 1.6. Association BIOM. Samplingevent dataset. https://ipt-bioatlas.bioportal.hr/resource?r=life-artina_sea-transect-data-2019-2021_lastovo-archipelago-croatia&v=1.6
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Association BIOM. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 1a589a4b-28d1-497d-b5f8-5094fc55c80c. Association BIOM publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Croatia.
Keywords
Samplingevent; Observation
Contacts
- Metadata Provider ●
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact
- Originator
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2882-6528
- Metadata Provider ●
- Originator ●
- User ●
- Point Of Contact
Geographic Coverage
The sea transects were carried out within a nine nautical mile radius starting from the border of the Nature Park Lastovo Islands. This border is identical with the one of the Natura 2000 site 'SPA Lastovsko otočje'.
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [42.575, 16.348], North East [42.908, 17.314] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
No Description available
| Kingdom | Animalia |
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| Class | Actinopterygii, Chondrichthyes, Aves, Reptilia, Mammalia |
| Order | Testudines, Suliformes, Anseriformes, Apodidae, Artiodactyla, Istiophoriformes, Passeriformes, Pelecaniformes, Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, Columbiformes, Apodiformes, Charadriiformes, Bucerotiformes, Podicipediformes, Caprimulgiformes, Carcharhiniformes, Procellariiformes, Strigiformes |
| Family | Laridae, Carcharhinidae, Corvidae, Upupidae, Columbidae, Procellariidae, Motacillidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Xiphiidae, Podicipedidae, Delphinidae, Hydrobatidae, Scolopacidae, Accipitridae, Hirundinidae, Strigidae, Alaudidae, Falconidae, Apodidae, Turdidae, Caprimulgidae, Cheloniidae, Ardeidae, Anatidae |
Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 2019-05-22 / 2021-05-26 |
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Project Data
The main objectives of the LIFE Artina project were: 1) Identify marine SPAs at sea in southern Croatia for the Audouin's Gull (Larus audouinii), the Scopoli's Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) and Yelkouan Shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan). 2) Understand and assess the main threats affecting seabirds populations on land and at sea in the project area and define actions to mitigate them. 3) Eradicate terrestrial invasive species (ship rats - Rattus rattus) on shearwater breeding colonies and control of Yellow-legged Gulls (Larus michahellis) at breeding colonies of Audouin's Gulls. Project website: www.lifeartina.eu
| Title | LIFE Artina (LIFE17 NAT/HR/000594) |
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| Funding | The project was financed through the EU LIFE program, with supporting co-financing of the Fond za Zaštitu Okoliša i Energetsku Učinkovitost and Ured za Udruge. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the EU, CINEA, or any of the other granting authorities, nor can they be held responsible for them. |
| Study Area Description | The Lastovo archipelago consists of 46 islands and islets which are part of the south Dalmatian islands in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county in southern Croatia. The entire archipelago stretches from the island of Sušac in the west (42°45'30.5"N 16°52'18.6"E) to Glavat in the east (42°45'57.0"N 17°08'49.1"E), and has been protected as Nature Park Lastovo Islands (IUCN category V) since 2006, covering an area of 195 km2, of which 52 km2 consists of terrestrial habitats. It is also a Natura 2000 site (SPA Lastovsko otočje) and the archipelago holds over 50% of the Croatian national breeding populations of Yelkouan Shearwater, Scopoli's Shearwater and Audouin's Gull. |
| Design Description | The sea transects were carried out as part of a larger study to determine the importance of the sea surrounding the Lastovo Archipelago for the three project species as well as other (sea)birds (e.g, for their foraging or resting). |
Sampling Methods
A total of 12 transects, varying in length from 35 to 50 km, were surveyed by two observers on a semi-inflatable boat with a skipper, going at a speed of 15 km/h. According to the ESAS methodology, the continuous sampling along each sea transect was divided into poskeys (= periods of 5 minutes during which observations are clustered), which should follow a consecutive and uninterrupted order (poskey 1, poskey 2, poskey 3, etc.). A poskey always started at hh:m0 or hh:m5, and the starting point was marked with a GPS. However, deviating from the original ESAS protocol, during our sea transects, poskey periods were interspersed by 5 minutes of observations for which GPS coordinates were not marked. These periods were dubbed 'non-poskeys' and marked in the poskey column (EventID) with 'no', resulting in a sequence of poskey - non-poskey - poskey etc. with poskeys starting every ten minutes, instead of five. The sampling effort was the same for both periods meaning that essentially the same dataset is collected as during the standardized ESAS methodology, with every other 5 minute interval lacking GPS data and bearing a different name than in the original methodology. Only birds flying on the port side of the boat (left side) were counted. Birds were identified to species level where possible, otherwise using larger overarching species groups. For each observation, the number of birds and their age (if possible) was noted, as well as notes on their behaviour (e.g. foraging, feeding, resting, flying by) and their distance to the boat (see code below), as well as direction of flight. Besides birds, sightings of Dolphins and turtles, and some large species of fish were also recorded. To mitigate the possible effects of weather on species identification, sea transects were only conducted 1) either in the early morning or late afternoon (when the sun is less strong), 2) preferably during days with favourable weather forecast (little to no wind, no large waves, no rain or fog), and 3) by choosing the starting point of the transect based on the location of the sun (to avoid being blinded). Changes in sea state (see code below), visibility and cloud cover were also recorded during the transects. Codes used for distance from boat: A = swims, 0 - 50m B = swims, 50 - 100m C = swims, 100 - 200m D = swims, 200 - 300m E = swims, ≥ 300m F = flying inside transect F+ = flying outside transect Sea state codes: Sea like a mirror -> no wave; wind less than 1kt Small ripples -> wave 0,1m; wind 1 - 3kt Small wavelets -> wave 0,2 - 0,3m; wind 4 - 6kt Crests break -> wave 0,6 - 1,0m; wind 7 - 10kt Numerous white caps -> wave 1,0 - 1,5m; wind 11 - 16kt
| Study Extent | A series of systematic at-sea surveys was conducted, following the standardized protocol of the ‘European Seabirds at Sea’ (ESAS) database (Tasker et al. 1984; Camphuysen et al. 2004). These transects were carried out monthly between March and October during a two year timespan (May 2019 – May 2021), following a petal shape within a nine nautical mile radius around the SPA Lastovsko otočje. |
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Method step description:
- The field data, initially digitized in Excel, was subsequently imported into R for further processing. In the original dataset, some species were identified more broadly, such as "Larus/Ichthyaetus spec." or "Apus spec." In these instances, the original values were retained in the "verbatimIdentification" column. To provide further taxonomic context, the first general taxonomic rank for each case was identified and included in the database, and all absence records are recorded as class Aves. Additionally, supplementary details—such as distance from the ship, flight direction, cloud cover, sea state, and visibility—were added as measurementOrFact entries. Due to the deviation from the ESAS protocol and in order to keep the "true" sequence of records being taken (otherwise the NO poskeys are thrown at the end) the occurrenceID column was constructed as "record_sequence-year-transect-poskey".
Bibliographic Citations
- Tasker, M. L., Jones, P. H., Dixon, T. & Blake, B. F. 1984. Counting seabirds at sea from ships: a review of methods employed and a suggestion for a standardized approach. The Auk, 101 (3), 567-577. DOI:10.1093/auk/101.3.567
- Camphuysen, C.J., Fox, A.D., Leopold, M.F. & Petersen, I.K. 2004. Towards standardised seabirds at sea census techniques in connection with environmental impact assessments for offshore wind farms in the U.K.. Report commissioned by COWRIE for the Crown Estate, London. Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, 38pp.
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | 1a589a4b-28d1-497d-b5f8-5094fc55c80c |
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| https://ipt-bioatlas.bioportal.hr/resource?r=life-artina_sea-transect-data-2019-2021_lastovo-archipelago-croatia |