Malaise Trap Environmental Data from Gola Rainforest Buffer Zone

123 Malaise trap samples collected in November-December 2021 within the 908 km² forested leakage belt of the Gola Rainforest National Park, Sierra Leone. The dataset documents trap locations and local environmental conditions for samples preserved in ethanol and sent for arthropod metabarcoding. The work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council.

Use Cases

• Joint Species Distribution Modelling using trap location coordinates and local environmental variables.
• Analyzing biodiversity indices from metabarcoding results linked to specific environmental conditions.
• Systematic conservation planning for the leakage belt by correlating environmental data with cocoa cultivation presence.
• Training models to predict arthropod community composition based on trap location and collection date.

Strengths

• Contains 123 distinct environmental samples from a defined 908 km² study area.
• Samples were collected using a standardized five-day trapping protocol with ethanol preservation.
• Data is linked to a specific research grant (NE/S014063/1) and has a persistent DOI for citation.

Limitations

• The dataset size is limited to a single two-month sampling period in late 2021.
• Geographic scope is restricted to a specific buffer zone in Sierra Leone, limiting broader regional inference.
• The metabarcoding results for the arthropods are a separate dataset, requiring a join for full analysis.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

Malaise traps set for five days with ethanol, samples transported to the UK for metabarcoding.

Time Range

November to December 2021

Freshness

null

Geography

Forested leakage belt buffer zone (908 km²) of the Gola Rainforest National Park, Sierra Leone, West Africa