Acoustic monitoring data of anuran species inside and outside the evacuation zone of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant accident

Abstract

The Fukushima Daiichi power plant accident led to large‐scale and long‐term evacuation zones in which usual land‐use activities such as farming have been stopped. In particular, the loss of irrigated rice paddies is hypothesized to have seriously impacted freshwater biodiversity. In 2014, we started acoustic monitoring of frogs by using digital voice recorders in and around the evacuation zone. For the monitoring project, 52 and 57 monitoring sites were located within schoolyards (including those that had been converted into community centers) to examine the frog assemblages in the urban and rural landscapes of the region in 2014 and 2015, respectively. At each site, a digital voice recorder was installed during the period from May to July, and we recorded 10 min a day at night using a timed‐recording mode. We divided the audio data into 20‐s segments and identified species recorded in segments sampled from late May to late June (partly in early July). We identified eight frog species from 1,962 audio segments in total (correspond to 4 days per year in principal). For each species, intensity of calling at four levels was also recorded as an index of abundance. We are continuing to monitor and intend to update the dataset with new observations hereafter. Our dataset will support scientists and experts in recognizing the status and dynamics of anuran assemblages in and around the evacuation zone and will contribute to the promotion of open science. The complete data set for this abstract published in the Data Paper section of the journal is available in electronic format in MetaCat in JaLTER at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/metacat/metacat/ERDP-2020-12.1/jalter-en.

Ecological responses to the direct and indirect disturbances by the Great East Japan Earthquake, 2011

“…Fukasawa et al (2016) archived their data on small mammals obtained from images taken in 2014 by automatic trail cameras placed at more than 40 sites within and near the no-entry areas. Fukasawa et al (2017) and Yoshioka et al (2020) also provided their data on avian and anuran species, respectively, obtained from automatic acoustic monitoring devices placed at more than 50 sites within and nearby the no-entry areas. According to these authors, they are continually accumulating data obtained by the trail camera and acoustic monitoring devices and have plans to disclose more data in research or data papers in the future.…”