| Summary: | Progress Code: onGoing Statement: The dates provided in temporal coverage are approximate only. Dataset last updated on 2019-06-25. Information related to diet and energy flow is fundamental to a diverse range of Antarctic and Southern Ocean biological and ecosystem studies. This metadata record describes a database of such information being collated by the SCAR Expert Groups on Antarctic Biodiversity Informatics (EG-ABI) and Birds and Marine Mammals (EG-BAMM) to assist the scientific community in this work. It includes data related to diet and energy flow from conventional (e.g. gut content) and modern (e.g. molecular) studies, stable isotopes, fatty acids, and energetic content. It is a product of the SCAR community and open for all to participate in and use. Data have been drawn from published literature, existing trophic data collections, and unpublished data. The database comprises five principal tables, relating to (i) direct sampling methods of dietary assessment (e.g. gut, scat, and bolus content analyses, stomach flushing, and observed predation), (ii) stable isotopes, (iii) lipids, (iv) DNA-based diet assessment, and (v) energetics values. The schemas of these tables are described below, and a list of the sources used to populate the tables is provided with the data. A range of manual and automated checks were used to ensure that the entered data were as accurate as possible. These included visual checking of transcribed values, checking of row or column sums against known totals, and checking for values outside of allowed ranges. Suspicious entries were re-checked against original source. Notes on names: Names have been validated against the World Register of Marine Species (http://www.marinespecies.org/). For uncertain taxa, the most specific taxonomic name has been used (e.g. prey reported in a study as "Pachyptila sp." will appear here as "Pachyptila"; "Cephalopods" will appear as "Cephalopoda"). Uncertain species identifications (e.g. "Notothenia rossii?" or "Gymnoscopelus cf. piabilis") have ...
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