Rapid Assessment Biodiversity Grid Data for a farming field in Lumbini, Nepal, June 2015

Abstract

This dataset consists of a rapid biodiversity assessment at a farming site near a village in Lumbini, Nepal. The data include 25 plots spaced 100m apart from each other, and 5 additional random points. The geo-referencing was done with a GPS, a geographic datum of WGS84 was used with decinal degrees (5 decimals) of latitude and longitude. The bounding box of this data set is: 27.481920 to 27.486120 Northern latitude, and 83.261799 to 83.266640 Western longitude. The grid was visited three times from June 7th, 8th and 9th in 2015 allowing for occupancy and distance sampling abundance estimates. Point transects were carried out for bird sightings; the insects and vegetation (flowers) were briefly assessed. Two photos were taken for each grid plot, and one sky shot to capture the atmospheric light conditions, e.g. for Remote Sensing work.Noteworthy are the high occurrences of crows, black kites, myrnas and larks, as well the detection of sarus cranes in this landscape that is dominated by domesticated zebu, water buffalo and goats. The grid area was heavily used by humans, e.g. for walking and sanitary purposes. A high incidence of microplastics was found. At the time of survey a heat wave over up to 47 degree Celsius was measured. This dataset consists of an MS Excel sheet and is less than 1MB in size.