Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content

Giving-up density experiments for two species of mammals in Florida, 2022

Metadata Updated: February 22, 2025

Invasive predators pose a substantial threat to global biodiversity. Native prey species frequently exhibit naïveté to the cues of invasive predators, and this phenomenon may contribute to the disproportionate impact of invasive predators on prey populations. However, not all species exhibit naïveté, which has led to the generation of many hypotheses to explain patterns in prey responses. These hypotheses primarily fall into two categories: system-centric hypotheses that relate to biogeographic isolation (BIH) and species-centric hypotheses, like the Archetype Similarity Hypothesis (ASH). We tested the predictions of these hypotheses by assessing the response of the common raccoon (Procyon lotor) and hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), two native mammal species with divergent snake predation histories, to the cues of the invasive Burmese python (Python bivittatus) in Florida. Using giving-up densities (GUDs), we assessed the responses of both cotton rats and raccoons to life-size replicas of Burmese pythons and two North American predators (coyotes, Canis latrans, and eastern diamondback rattlesnake, Crotalus adamanteus). This Relative.GUD.Racoon dataset presents the results of giving-up density experiments conducted to assess raccoon responses to the visual cues of invasive Burmese pythons. Experiments were conducted in Paynes Prairie State Preserve Park (Alachua County, Florida, USA) in 2022. To quantify raccoon giving-up densities, we mixed 100 pieces of cat food with 1 liter of pine pellets. To minimize the influence of environmental variables on the treatments, we employed a blocked design, ensuring that each of the four predator treatments was represented in each cluster. This Relative.GUD.Rat dataset presents the results of giving-up density experiments conducted to assess hispid cotton rat responses to the visual cues of invasive Burmese pythons. Experiments were conducted in Paynes Prairie State Preserve Park (Alachua County, Florida, USA) in 2022. To quantify cotton rat giving-up densities, we mixed 25 ml of hulled millet with 1.5 liters of sifted sand. To minimize the influence of environmental variables on the treatments, we employed a blocked design, ensuring that each of the four predator treatments was represented in each cluster. We repeated treatments for three nights.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date November 24, 2024
Metadata Updated Date February 22, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI EDI

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date November 24, 2024
Metadata Updated Date February 22, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
@Id http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/dc527945b353bb653b60b4dda774ed1b
Identifier USGS:66fd7198d34edc655a85f050
Data Last Modified 20250116
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://datainventory.doi.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id cc310c1e-0605-4017-bbe9-3686004df18e
Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -83.4521,24.9263,-79.3872,30.1261
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 7e706e899e430ea86f50095cf6a97e64cd53fada5c06a0dae1002d252d2e75db
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -83.4521, 24.9263, -83.4521, 30.1261, -79.3872, 30.1261, -79.3872, 24.9263, -83.4521, 24.9263}

Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.