MotivationThe BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community‐led open‐source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene.Main types of variables includedThe database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record.Spatial location and grainBioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km2 (158 cm2) to 100 km2 (1,000,000,000,000 cm2).Time period and grainBioTIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year.Major taxa and level of measurementBioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates.Software format.csv and .SQL.

Transient species occur infrequently in a community over time and do not maintain viable local populations. Because transient species interact differently than non-transients with their biotic and abiotic environment, it is important to characterize the prevalence of these species and how they impact our understanding of ecological systems. We quantified the prevalence and impact of transient species in communities using data on over 19,000 community time series spanning an array of ecosystems, taxonomic groups, and spatial scales. We found that transient species are a general feature of communities regardless of taxa or ecosystem. The proportion of these species decreases with increasing spatial scale leading to a need to control for scale in comparative work. Removing transient species from analyses influences the form of a suite of commonly studied ecological patterns including species-abundance distributions, species-energy relationships, species-area relationships, and temporal turnover. Careful consideration should be given to whether transient species are included in analyses depending on the theoretical and practical relevance of these species for the question being studied.

Many avian species persist in human-dominated landscapes; however, little is known about the demographic consequences of urbanization in these populations. Given that urban habitats introduce novel benefits (e.g., anthropogenic resources) and pressures (e.g., mortality risks), conflicting mechanisms have been hypothesized to drive the dynamics of urban bird populations. Top-down processes such as predation predict reduced survivorship in suburban and urban habitats, whereas bottom-up processes, such as increased resource availability, predict peak survival in suburban habitats. In this study, we use mark-recapture data of seven focal species encountered between 2000 and 2012 to test hypotheses about the processes that regulate avian survival along an urbanization gradient in greater Washington, D.C., USA. American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Cardinal, and Song Sparrow exhibited peak survival at intermediate and upper portions of the rural-to-urban gradient; this pattern supports the hypothesis that bottom-up processes (e.g., resource availability) can drive patterns of avian survival in some species. In contrast, Carolina Chickadee showed no response and Carolina and House Wren showed a slightly negative response to urban land cover. These contrasting results underscore the need for comparative studies documenting the mechanisms that drive demography and how those factors differentially affect urban adapted and urban avoiding species.

Abstract. Despite the increasing pace of urbanization little is known about the factors that limit bird populations (i.e., population-level processes) within the urban/suburban land-use matrix. Here, we report rates of nest survival within the matrix of an urban land-use gradient in the greater Washington, D.C., USA, area for five common songbirds using data collected by scientists and citizens as part of a project called Neighborhood Nestwatch. Using program MARK, we modeled the effects of species, urbanization at multiple spatial scales (canopy cover and impervious surface), and observer (citizen vs. scientist) on nest survival of four open-cup and one cavity-nesting species. In addition, artificial nests were used to determine the relative impacts of specific predators along the land-use gradient. Our results suggest that predation on nests within the land-use matrix declines with urbanization but that there are species-specific differences. Moreover, variation in nest survival among species was best explained by urbanization metrics measured at larger ''neighborhood'' spatial scales (e.g., 1000 m). Trends were supported by data from artificial nests and suggest that variable predator communities (avian vs. mammalian) are one possible mechanism to explain differential nest survival. In addition, we assessed the quality of citizen science data and show that citizens had no negative effect on nest survival and provided estimates of nest survival comparable to Smithsonian biologists. Although birds nesting within the urban matrix experienced higher nest survival, individuals also faced a multitude of other challenges such as contaminants and invasive species, all of which could reduce adult survival.

Table A1. Behavioral phenotypes of male wire-tailed manakins. Grand means for each status 8 class were calculated from n = 4,669 daily measures of 180 control individuals. Behavioral phenotypes of territory-holding males were calculated using pings and interactions received on 10 the male's own territory, whereas floater behaviors included any territory visited by the floater male. Note that for effort, one ping corresponds to approximately 0.33 minutes of lek attendance. 12Thus, the average effort of floater and territorial males is about 49 and 195 minutes per day, respectively. 14 Behavioral phenotypeFloater mean (SE) Territory-holder mean (SE) Effort (pings per day) 147 (24) 586 (36) Strength (interactions per day) 10.1 (1.6) 5.1 (0.5) Degree (partners per day) 2.6 (0.2) 1.4 (0.1) 16 Table A2. Behavioral correlations among-and within-individuals. Each cell gives the 18 median posterior estimate of the correlation coefficient (ranging from -1 to 1), followed by the [95% central range], derived from a multivariate analysis of n = 4,669 daily measures of 180 20 control individuals. The analysis accounts for status, field season (fixed effects), and ID (random effect). 22 Effort Strength Degree Effort --0.77 [0.69, 0.84] 0.72 [0.63, 0.80] Strength --0.95 [0.93, 0.97] Degree --Effort Strength Degree Effort --0.66 [0.64, 0.68] 0.63 [0.61, 0.65] Strength --0.90 [0.89, 0.90] Degree --24

The composition of avian communities in human‐dominated habitats is thought to be determined by the interaction between species‐specific traits and environmental characteristics. Traits such as dietary habits and habitat specialization influence the vulnerability of species to land use change. As species are excluded from anthropogenic environments, local species pools are differentially sorted from the regional species pool. This sorting process, environmental filtering, is characterized by a decline in the functional diversity of local biotic communities and may result in a loss of regional biodiversity as landscapes are urbanized. Environmental filtering due to urbanization is hypothesized due to an ecosystem stress gradient, which describes a decrease in species richness or abundance with increasing urban intensity. Conflicting patterns of species richness and species abundances have limited our ability to determine whether urban environments filter avian communities. To evaluate the hypothesis that environmental filtering is occurring, we analyzed avian point count data collected along a rural‐to‐urban gradient in metropolitan Washington, D.C. We examined predictions that species richness, functional diversity, and the total and relative abundances of some life history guilds exhibit the pattern expected under the ecosystem stress‐gradient hypothesis. Species richness and functional diversity declined monotonically with increasing impervious surface. Life history guilds, representing species’ diet, foraging, nest, and migration habits, exhibited differential rates of decline across the rural‐to‐urban gradient, resulting in marked shifts in the composition of communities. Our results support the hypothesis that urbanization filters bird communities as a function of avian traits and provide further evidence of trait‐level responses to urban environments.

18variation (2-8%) in social behavior within each status class. Collectively, our findings show that 32 the hormonal control of cooperation depends on a male's social status. We propose that the status-dependent reorganization of hormone-regulatory pathways can facilitate stable cooperative 34 partnerships, and thus provide direct fitness benefits for males. 36

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