UK Otter Toxicology and Habitat Data from 278 Carcasses (2006-2017)

278 Eurasian otter carcasses from England and Wales (2006-2017) provide liver tissue metal concentrations and biological characteristics. The Cardiff University Otter Project collected this data, linking each carcass location to stream/soil biochemistry, weather, and potential contaminant sources from external datasets. This study includes model estimates of topsoil properties and British Geological Survey data.

Use Cases

• Modeling spatial relationships between liver metal concentrations and habitat biogeochemistry based on linked environmental data.
• Analyzing temporal trends in otter exposure to toxic metals and semi-metals over the 11-year period.
• Identifying potential anthropogenic contaminant sources by correlating otter tissue data with habitat land-use and pollution data.
• Studying biological characteristics (e.g., age, sex) in relation to contaminant burden for population health assessments.

Strengths

• Data from 278 individual otter carcasses provides a substantial sample size for analysis.
• Covers an 11-year time span (2006-2017), allowing for temporal trend examination.
• Integrates individual otter data with multiple external environmental datasets (stream/soil biochemistry, weather, contaminant sources).
• Specific spatial reference (National Grid Reference) for each carcass enables precise geospatial analysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count for the integrated habitat/environmental data tables is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is limited to deceased otters, which may introduce bias compared to a living population sample.

Provenance

Source

Cardiff University Otter Project, supported by the Esme Fairbairn Foundation and the UK-SCaPE programme.

Collection Method

Analysis of otter carcasses collected across England and Wales, with habitat data collated from external sources (e.g., Countryside Survey, British Geological Survey).

Time Range

2006-2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-19 07:34:31.988014; freshness should be verified.

Geography

England and Wales, United Kingdom