Optimised scat collection protocols for dietary DNA metabarcoding in vertebrates

• Other Authors: AADC (originator), AU/AADC > Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia (resourceProvider)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Australian Ocean Data Network
• Subjects: biota; oceans; ALBATROSSES/PETRELS AND ALLIES; EARTH SCIENCE; BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION; ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES; BIRDS; DNA METABARCODING; MISEQ GENOME SEQUENCING; SHY ALBATROSS; DIET; THALASSARCHE CAUTA; ALBATROSS ISLAND; AMD/AU; AMD; CEOS; GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR; OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN; CONTINENT > AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND > AUSTRALIA > Tasmania; Albatross Island; New Zealand; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://researchdata.ands.org.au/optimised-scat-collection-metabarcoding-vertebrates/755481; https://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/AAS_4014_McInnes_et_al_2016; http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/portal/download_file.cfm?file_id=4660; https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=AAS_4014_McInnes_et_al_2016; https://secure3.aad.gov.au/proms/public/projects/report_project_public.cfm?project_no=AAS_4014

See the referenced paper for more information. These spreadsheets provide the sequences counts for the DNA groups found in the scats of Shy Albatross at Albatross Island, Tasmania, Australia. Samples were collected during three stages of the breeding season: Incubation (Late September 2014), Brood (December 2014) and Chick-rearing (March 2014 and 2015). Scat samples were collected from breeding birds, chicks and non-breeders. 'Breeders' were identified as individuals incubating an egg or attending a chick, whereas 'non-breeders' were usually pairs that had reoccupied the colony and were building new practice nests with no chick present. Non-breeders in the colony include immature birds that have not yet bred and mature birds of breeding age that did not breed in a particular season (e.g. no partner or insufficient body condition) Details of the molecular methods and synthesis of this data can be found in: McInnes, J.C., Alderman, R., Deagle, B.E. Lea, M-A., Raymond, B. and Jarman, S.N. 2016. Optimised scat collection protocols for dietary DNA metabarcoding in vertebrates. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. Samples were collected to determine the affect that sample age, collection substrate, breeding stage and incubation duration had on the DNA amplification success and the proportion of food DNA. Using these data, optimised scat collection protocols were developed.