SCIOPS collected cloacal swabs and plasma samples from Adelie and Emperor penguins across multiple Antarctic sites during the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 seasons. The dataset covers 270 birds, with cultures for human and avian bacteria and tests for viral disease antibodies. Data was last updated in December 2004.
Use Cases
- Analyze prevalence of specific human and avian bacteria across penguin species and Antarctic sites.
- Compare viral antibody presence in plasma between Adelie and Emperor penguin populations.
- Investigate seasonal variation in bacterial culture results between the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 sampling seasons.
- Correlate bacterial presence with antibody status for individual birds where both swab and plasma data exist.
Strengths
- Data from 270 individual birds across two penguin species.
- Samples collected from five distinct Antarctic field sites over two seasons.
- Includes results from both bacterial culture and viral antibody testing.
Limitations
- Small sample size for some groups, notably only 7 Emperor penguins sampled in 2003-2004.
- Data is over 15 years old, limiting contemporary ecological relevance.
- Unknown if data includes specific column-level details like bacterial species names or antibody titers.
Provenance
- Source
- SCIOPS via nasa_earthdata
- Collection Method
- Cloacal swabs and plasma collection from live penguins, followed by laboratory culture and antibody testing.
- Time Range
- 2003-2004 to 2004-2005 Antarctic seasons
- Freshness
- 2004-12-07
- Geography
- Antarctic sites: Cape Crozier, Cape Bird, Mandible Cirque, McMurdo Sound, Cape Washington