Title: Data from: Sapsucker wells as a keystone nutritional resource: evaluating methods for detection of secondary sap users DOI: 10.60841/000000267 VERSO: 996808645101851 Data, code and/or products within this dataset support the following manuscript: Manuscript Title: Sapsucker wells as a keystone nutritional resource: evaluating methods for detection of secondary sap users Journal: Ecology and Evolution DOI: 10.1002/ece3.72277 Description/Abstract: Data collected from 25 min observation surveys, camera traps and environmental DNA (eDNA) swabs to identify secondary users at sap wells created by red-naped (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) and Williamson’s (S. thyroideus) sapsuckers in three functional groups of shrubs and trees in south-central Colorado: shrub willows (Salix spp.), Rocky Mountain maple (Acer glabrum), and conifer trees (Pinaceae). Observation surveys were conducted from 3-10 m from sap-well systems for 20 min, with an additional 5 min of close-up surveys (~1 m) to observe and identify adult invertebrates. Camera trapping data were examined by a single observer who identified vertebrate and large adult invertebrate taxa consuming sap from wells. Swabs of environmental DNA were taken from sap wells and from residue along stems with sap wells. Vertebrates were targeted using the V5 region of the 12S RNA gene. Sequences were assigned to the lowest taxonomic resolution that contained only a single taxon among equally-good hits for a sequence. License: Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 (CC-BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Recommended Citation: Clawges, R., Blair, S., Eitel, J., Svancara, L., Vierling, L., and Vierling, K. 2025. Data from: Sapsucker wells as a keystone nutritional resource: evaluating methods for detection of secondary sap users (Version 1.0) [Dataset]. University of Idaho. https://doi.org/10.60841/000000267 Resource URL: https://verso.uidaho.edu/esploro/outputs/dataset/Data-from-Sapsucker-wells-as-a/996808645101851 Creators: 1. Rick Clawges Unique identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4888-1981 Affiliation(s): University of Idaho 2. Shannon Blair Unique identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2855-6487 Affiliation(s): University of Idaho 3. Jan Eitel Unique identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1903-3833 Affiliation(s): University of Idaho 4. Leona Svancara Unique identifier: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1936-6079 Affiliation(s): University of Idaho, U.S. Geological Survey 5. Lee Vierling Unique identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5344-1983 Affiliation(s): University of Idaho 6. Kerri Vierling Unique identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1874-8207 Affiliation(s): University of Idaho Other Contributor(s): 1. Andrew Wright Child Unique identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6666-0739 Affiliation(s): University of Idaho Role: data curator Publisher: University of Idaho Publication Year: 2025 Language: American English Subject(s): 1. Natural sciences 1.6 Biological sciences Fish and Wildlife Sciences Molecular biology Keywords/Tags: biodiversity; camera trapping; DNA metabarcoding; ecosystem functions; keystone structure; keystone species; sapsucker; sap well; Sphyrapicus nuchalis; Sphyrapicus thyroideus Resource Type General: Dataset Dates: NULL Date available for the public: 2025-06-18 Sizes: 79.6 GB (compressed format size) camera_trapping_data: 74.1 GB total in a collection of 60 zipped folders varying in size determined by number of jpg images within each folder. Format(s): zip, jpg, csv, txt Version: 1.0 Spatial/Geographical Coverage Location: Study Area Description: Wet Mountains of south-central Colorado, USA Geospatial Extent: Easting: -104.958920 Westing: -105.175435 Northing: 38.123932 Southing: 37.877806 Temporal Coverage: Start Date: 2022-03-27 End Date: 2022-10-07 Granularity of the Data: NULL Contact Info: Contact Name: Rick Clawges Contact Email: rclawges@gmail.com Related Content: Raw Sequencing Data - NCBI SRA Environmental DNA Sequencing of Colorado Sapwells | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA1283213/ Peer-Reviewed Manuscript - Ecology and Evolution | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72277 Data/Code Files: /metadata.txt: project descriptive metadata and file/variable descriptions /camera_traps - Data directory containing camera trap image files and files detailing camera trap sites, periods of operation, and taxa detected. /camera_trap_data - Data directory containing 60 zipped folders with image data (74.1 GB). Each folder corresponds to a camera-trapping site and camera-set time period. Image files in JPG format are contained within each folder. /camera_trap_taxa_list.csv: Table of taxa detected at camera trapping sites Variables: common_name: common name of sap user identified at camera trap site scientific_name: scientific name (Linnaean classification system) of sap user identified at camera trap site class: class of identified taxa order: order of identified taxa family: family of identified taxa W: an "x" indicates the taxa was observed as a sap user in willow M: an "x" indicates the taxa was observed as a sap user in maple C: an "x" indicates the taxa was observed as a sap user in conifer vegetation_type_site_number columns (e.g. "maple_103): an "x" indicates the taxa was observed as a sap user at the site /camera_trap_image_inventory.csv: Table of sites with camera trapping data and associated details Variables: site_number: Used to identify a shrub or tree source with active sap wells vegetation_type: one of 3 general types: conifer, maple, willow number_of_images: number of camera trap images contained in subfolder image_dates: range of dates in each subfolder of camera trap images image_folder: folder containing JPEG images. Folders are named according to site and volume numbers. For example, "Site_103_vol_1" refers to the first set of images taken at site 103. Volume numbers are arranged chronologically by date. /camera_trap_set_periods.csv3: Table summarizing camera trapping placement periods at each site Variables: site_number: used to identify a shrub or tree source with active sap wells vegetation_type: one of 3 general types: conifer, maple, willow camera_trap_dates: range of dates in each subfolder of camera trap images camera_hours: number of hours camera trap was deployed at each site during the camera_trap_dates referenced camera_days: number of days camera trap was deployed at each site during the camera_trap_dates referenced--camera_hours / 24 /environmental_DNA - Data directory containing 7 CSV files detailing environmental DNA samples, processed DNA sequences for detected taxa, and taxa detected in each sample /eDNA_sample_details.csv: Details for eDNA sample swabs taken at sap wells Variables: sample_field_ID: a unique identification for a sample designated by the sample collector sample_lab_name: a unique sample name designated in the lab date: date sample was collected time: time sample was collected air_temperature_C: air temperature in Celsius at time of sample collection site_number: used to identify a shrub or tree source with active sap wells vegetation_type: one of 3 general types: conifer, maple, willow /eDNA_taxa_detected_conifer.csv: Tables of taxa detected in eDNA taken from conifer sap wells Variables: number: number of samples with detections of each taxon common_name: common name of taxa identified in eDNA sample scientific_name: scientific name (Linnaean classification system) of taxa identified in eDNA sample class: class of identified taxa order: order of identified taxa family: family of identified taxa eDNA_taxa: List of taxa identified in eDNA samples taken from sap wells that were used in determining presence of a potential sap feeder. For example, Neotamias sp., Tamias sp., and T. quadrivattatus were used to identify "Chipmunk sp." as potential sap feeders from samples taken from willow sap wells. sample_number (e.g., "sample_P6"): an "x" indicates the taxa was identified within eDNA taken from a sample with that field identification number /eDNA_taxa_detected_maple.csv: Tables of taxa detected in eDNA taken from maple sap wells Variables: number: number of samples with detections of each taxon common_name: common name of taxa identified in eDNA sample scientific_name: scientific name (Linnaean classification system) of taxa identified in eDNA sample class: class of identified taxa order: order of identified taxa family: family of identified taxa eDNA_taxa: List of taxa identified in eDNA samples taken from sap wells that were used in determining presence of a potential sap feeder. For example, Neotamias sp., Tamias sp., and T. quadrivattatus were used to identify "Chipmunk sp." as potential sap feeders from samples taken from willow sap wells. sample_number (e.g., "sample_P6"): an "x" indicates the taxa was identified within eDNA taken from a sample with that field identification number /eDNA_taxa_detected_willow.csv: Tables of taxa detected in eDNA taken from willow sap wells Variables: number: number of samples with detections of each taxon common_name: common name of taxa identified in eDNA sample scientific_name: scientific name (Linnaean classification system) of taxa identified in eDNA sample class: class of identified taxa order: order of identified taxa family: family of identified taxa eDNA_taxa: List of taxa identified in eDNA samples taken from sap wells that were used in determining presence of a potential sap feeder. For example, Neotamias sp., Tamias sp., and T. quadrivattatus were used to identify "Chipmunk sp." as potential sap feeders from samples taken from willow sap wells. sample_number (e.g., "sample_P6"): an "x" indicates the taxa was identified within eDNA taken from a sample with that field identification number /eDNA_taxatable.csv: The taxonomic table - the full table that contains every amplicon sequence variant (ASV) for each sample (i.e. it is not a unique list of ASVs), with the associated metadata for each sample including read count and taxonomic information for the best hit species using both the local and remote BLAST queries. Descriptions and Variables modified from metadata supporting Paprocki et al. (2024) https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.70000 that is available on Dryad at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rv15dv4hh Variables: sample: Replicate sample name. A/B corresponds to replicates. There are two replicates per sample. sample_dedup: The dereplicated sample name. Each sample corresponds to a specific sampling event. sequence: The full sequence of the ASV reads: The number of reads associated with that replicate and that ASV identity: The % identity score (calculated by NCBI blast) for the best hit in the local reference database taxa: The binomial species name of the best hit for that ASV in the local reference database taxid: The NCBI taxonomic "taxid" number assigned to the best hit taxon or taxa in the local reference database phylum: The phylum of the best hit taxa in the local reference database class: The class or classes of the best hit taxa in the local reference database order: The order or orders of the best hit taxa in the local reference database family: The family or families of the best hit taxa in the local reference database genus: The genus or genera of the best hit taxa in the local reference database bitscore: The bitscore, calculated by NCBI Blast, of the best hit in the local reference database tax_num: The number of equally-good best hits in the local reference database. Generally > 1 when sequences are identical, i.e. when the resolution is too low for species-level assignment in the local reference database all_species_in_best_hit: A list of all the species that are equally-good best hits.  remote_identity: The % identity score (calculated by NCBI blast) for the best hit in the full NCBI Genbank database remote_taxa: The binomial species name of the best hit for that ASV in the full NCBI Genbank database (note: only ASVs with no hit in the local database were run on the remote database, all others will be "NA") remote_taxid: The NCBI taxonomic "taxid" number assigned to the best hit taxon or taxa in the full NCBI Genbank database remote_phylum: The phylum of the best hit taxa in the full NCBI Genbank database remote_class: The class or classes of the best hit taxa in the full NCBI Genbank database remote_order: The order or orders of the best hit taxa in the full NCBI Genbank database remote_family: The family or families of the best hit taxa in the full NCBI Genbank database remote_genus: The genus or genera of the best hit taxa in the full NCBI Genbank database remote_bitscore: The bitscore, calculated by NCBI Blast, of the best hit in the full NCBI Genbank database remote_tax_num: The number of equally-good best hits in the full NCBI Genbank database. "No Hit" and NAs in the data "No hit"--NCBI BLAST returned no acceptable hit by its own internal metrics. Only matches above 97% were included. NAs are present in this data in the following columns: taxid, phylum, class, order, family, genus, all_species_in_best_hit, remote_taxid, remote_phylum, remote_class, remote_order, remote_family, remote_genus, remote_bitscore, remote_tax_num. NAs are present when a) there was no hit found in BLAST (Taxa is "No Hit", taxid, taxonomy and score fields contain "NA"), b) when the ASV was not run against the remote database because an acceptable local hit was found, or c) when we could not resolve the hit to species, in which case the taxonomic levels below the level of resolution are marked as "NA". /taxa_local_database.csv: Table of taxa detected in the local reference database Variables: scientific_name: scientific name (Linnaean classification system) of taxa identified in eDNA sample sample numbers (sample_lab_name) and sum of reads for each taxa /taxa_remote_database.csv: Table of taxa that had no hits in the local reference database but were detected in the full NCBI Genbank database Variables: scientific_name: scientific name (Linnaean classification system) of taxa identified in the full NCBI Genbank database sample numbers (sample_lab_name) and sum of reads for each taxa /figures - Directory of data and scripts used to create bar plots /data - Folder of 3 CSV files /bird_detections.csv /mammal_detections.csv /vertebrate_detections_vegtype.csv /scripts - Folder of 2 R scripts /vertebrate_detections_3methods.R /vertebrate_detections_vegtype.R /observation_surveys - Data directory containing 2 CSV files detailing observation survey events and taxa detected during each survey /observations.csv: Table of taxa detected during observation surveys Variables: site_number: used to identify a shrub or tree source with active sap wells vegetation_type: one of 3 general types: conifer, maple, willow date: date of survey time: time survey was started survey_duration: 20--20 min survey observing from a distance; 5--5 min close-up survey identification_method: Visual--on site, Specimen--collected for later identification taxa_code_sap_user: 4-letter code used to identify taxa in field /taxa_codes.csv: Table of taxa codes used during observation surveys with taxa details Variables taxa_code_sap_user: 4-letter code used to identify taxa in field; NU--No users observed during survey taxa_type: Bird, Mammal, Invertebrate, None (no users observed) order: order of identified taxa family: family of identified taxa common_name: common name of taxa scientific_name: scientific name (Linnaean classification system) of taxa