This readme file was generated on Sarah House on 2026-06-10 - General information - 1. Title of dataset: Temperature, precipitation and soil characteristics of Volcan Cacao - Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG), Costa Rica 2. Dataset DOI: https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/LQYQJZ 3. Long-term contact Name: Smith, Alexander ORCID:0000-0002-8650-2575 Institution: University of Guelph Email: salex@uoguelph.ca 4. Author Name:Smith, Alexander ORCID:0000-0002-8650-2575 Institution:University of Guelph 5. Description of the dataset: I have monitored temperature and precipitation at eight locations across a 1500m elevation gradient along Volcan Cacao in the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG) in northwestern Costa Rica since 2013 (January 2026 inclusive). This deposition includes air temperature data collected between March 2013 and September 2023. Air temperatures were recorded using either a HOBO RG3M Temperature and Rain Gauge Data Logger or an Onset HOBO UA-001-64 Pendant Temperature Data Logger or an Onset HOBO MX2202 Pendant Wireless Temperature Data Logger that recorded temperature every15 minutes each day. Datalogger is approximately 1.5 m above the ground. This deposition includes precipitation data collected between March 2013 and January 2026 as recorded using a HOBO RG3M Temperature and Rain Gauge Data Logger where each event logged was 0.2 ml. The deposition includes soil temperature data collected between June 2021 and January 2026. Temperature was recorded using an Onset HOBO MX2202 Pendant Wireless.Temperature Data Logger that recorded temperature every15 minutes each day. Datalogger is buried approximately 10-15 cm below the surface. This deposition includes measurements of soil chemistry as recorded in the field by an HH2 Moisture Meter Wet Sensor (Wet-2) (Delta T Devices, Cambridge, England) in February and August 2014. Inorganic elemental analysis was completed at the University of Guelph Laboratory Services by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for: Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Sodium, Sulphur, and Iron. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. (2026-02-18) 6. Date of data collection: 2013-03 to 2026-01 7. Geographic location of the data collection: Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica 8. Funding information: - Sharing/access information - 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the dataset: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 2. Links to publications that cite or use the dataset: Smith, M Alex.; Warne, Connor; Pare, Kate; Dolson, Sarah; Loewen, Elyssa; Jones, Kelsey; McPhee, Megan; Stitt, Lauren; Janke, Lauren; Smith, Rebecca M.; Coastworth, H; Loureiro, Alexandre M, M, C.; Solis, A.; Viquez, C. F.; Rodriguez, J.; Fernandez-Triana, J.; Sharkey, M. J.; Whitfield, J.; Masis, A.; Chavarria, M. M.; Blanco, R.; Chavarria, F.; Phillips-Rodriguez, E.; Fernandez, R.; Garcia, D.; Pereira, G.; Ramirez, H.; Pereira, M.; Hallwachs, Winnie.; Janzen, Daniel. H. (2023). Communities of Small Terrestrial Arthropods Change Rapidly Along a Costa Rican Elevation Gradient. In: Myster, R.W. (eds) Neotropical Gradients and Their Analysis. Springer, Cham, pp 255-307. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22848-3_10. Dolson, S.J., Loewen, E., Jones, K., Jacobs, S.R., Solis, A., Hallwachs, W., Brunke, A.J., Janzen, D.H. and Smith, M.A. (2021), Diversity and phylogenetic community structure across elevation during climate change in a family of hyperdiverse neotropical beetles (Staphylinidae). Ecography. 44: 740-752. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05427. doi 10.1111/ecog.05427 https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05427 Warne, CPK, Hallwachs, W, Janzen, DH, Smith, MA. (2020) Functional and genetic diversity changes through time in a cloud forest ant assemblage. Biotropica; 52: 1084– 1091. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12882 Dolson, SJ, McPhee, M, Vizquez, C, Hallwachs W, DH Janzen and M. Alex Smith (2020) Diversity, abundance, and phylogenetic structure of spiders (Araneae) across a Costa Rican elevation gradient. Biotropica. 52: 1092– 1102. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12874. doi 10.1111/btp.12874 https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12874 M. Alex Smith, Daniel H. Janzen, Winnie Hallwachs and John T. Longino (2015) Observations of Adelomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) reproductive biology facilitated by digital field microscopy and DNA barcoding. The Canadian Entomologist. 147(5):611-616. http://dx.doi.org/10.4039/tce.2014.82. Smith, M. Alex, D. H. Janzen and W. Hallwachs (2014) Diversity and phylogenetic community structure of ants along a Costa Rican elevational gradient. Ecography 37: 720–731. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2013.00631.x. doi 10.1111/j.1600-0587.2013.00631.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2013.00631.x Smith et al Ecography 2014 Supplemental appendix: https://www.ecography.org/sites/ecography.org/files/appendix/ecog-00631.pdf 3. Links/relationships to related datasets: N/A 4. Data sources: N/A 5. Dataset citation: Smith, Alexander, 2023, "Temperature, precipitation and soil characteristics of Volcan Cacao - Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG), Costa Rica", https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/LQYQJZ, Borealis. - Folder and file overview - 1. File List: SummaryTempPrecipSoilValues.tab 260129_CacaoDailyPrecipData_2013-2026.csv 260129_AllData_Daily.csv 260129_AllData_Soil_Daily.csv 260129_CacaoSoilTempTimeseriesWrangledForDataset.csv 260129_CacaoTempTimeseriesWrangledForDataset.csv README_DailyPrecip_2013-2026.txt README_SoilTempTimeseriesWrangled.txt README_SummaryTempPrecipSoilValues.txt README_TempTimeseriesWrangled.txt - Data-specific information for: SummaryTempPrecipSoilValues.tab - 1. Number of variables: 37 2. Number of cases/rows: 3. Missing data codes: 4. Variable List: Site_Code: categorical site code within dataset. Site_Name: site name within ACG. Lat: latitude of the site captured using a Garmin Rino 610 handheld GPS unit. long : longitude of the site captured using a Garmin Rino 610 handheld GPS unit. elevation_exact: elevation of the site (metres above sea level) captured using a Garmin Rino 610 handheld GPS unit. elevation_category: simplified representation of the exact site’s elevation (metres above sea level) that were captured with a single reading in elevation_exact. average_max_air_temperature: average daily maximum air temperature derived between 2013 and 2023 using a HOBO RG3M Temperature and Rain Gauge Data Logger or an Onset HOBO UA-001-64 Pendant Temperature Data Logger or an Onset HOBO MX2202 Pendant Wireless Temperature Data Logger that recorded temperature each 15 minutes each day. Datalogger is approximately 4 feet above the ground. average_avg_air_temperature: average daily average air temperature derived between 2013 and 2023 using a HOBO RG3M Temperature and Rain Gauge Data Logger or an Onset HOBO UA-001-64 Pendant Temperature Data Logger or an Onset HOBO MX2202 Pendant Wireless Temperature Data Logger that recorded temperature each 15 minutes each day. Datalogger is approximately 4 feet above the ground. average_min_air_temperature: average daily minimum air temperature derived between 2013 and 2023 using a HOBO RG3M Temperature and Rain Gauge Data Logger or an Onset HOBO UA-001-64 Pendant Temperature Data Logger or an Onset HOBO MX2202 Pendant Wireless Temperature Data Logger that recorded temperature each 15 minutes each day. Datalogger is approximately 4 feet above the ground. average_max_soil_temperature: average daily maximum soil temperature derived between 2021 and 2023 using an Onset HOBO MX2202 Pendant Wireless Temperature Data Logger that recorded temperature each 15 minutes each day. Datalogger is buried approximately 10-15cm below the surface. average_avg_soil_temperature: average daily average soil temperature derived between 2021 and 2023 using an Onset HOBO MX2202 Pendant Wireless Temperature Data Logger that recorded temperature each 15 minutes each day. Datalogger is buried approximately 10-15cm below the surface. average_min_soil_temperature: average daily minimum soil temperature derived between 2021 and 2023 using an Onset HOBO MX2202 Pendant Wireless Temperature Data Logger that recorded temperature each 15 minutes each day. Datalogger is buried approximately 10-15cm below the surface. water_content: Soil measurements of electrical conductivity were taken with a HH2 Moisture Meter Wet Sensor (Wet-2) (Delta T Devices, Cambridge, England) that measured soil temperature, soil moisture content and conductivity. At each elevational site, field readings were recorded by inserting the probe 6.5 cm into the ground at 10-30 haphazardly selected locations. Years_measured_Precip_Variables_2013-23: yearly periods within which RG3M tipping bucket measurements were captured. Mean_Yearly_Precip_ml: Total yearly precipitation averaged over the yearly period when the RG3M tipping bucket measurements were captured. sd_Mean_Yearly_Precip_ml: Standard deviation of the average yearly precipitation calculated over the yearly period when the RG3M tipping bucket measurements were captured. se_Mean_Yearly_Precip_ml: Standard error of the average yearly precipitation calculated over the yearly period when the RG3M tipping bucket measurements were captured. Mean_Proportion_of_Year_with_no_precip: Average proportion of the year when the RG3M tipping bucket recorded no precipitation (# of zero days divided by the number of days RG3M working for that year) sd_Mean_Proportion_of_Year_with_no_precip: Standard deviation of the proportion of the year when the RG3M tipping bucket recorded no precipitation (# of zero days divided by the number of days RG3M working for that year) se_Mean_Proportion_of_Year_with_no_precip: Standard error of the proportion of the year when the RG3M tipping bucket recorded no precipitation (# of zero days divided by the number of days RG3M working for that year) Area: To calculate the surface area (km2) of the elevational band associated with each of the eight collection sites, we used topographic data for Costa Rica from the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS; ) and downloaded the digital elevation model (DEM) into ArcGIS (). Shape files of all the individual terrestrial protected areas in the ACG are available from and were used here. These projections were then defined and matched to the EOSDIS land data using the spatial reference CR LAMBERT NORTE. We categorized the topographic data into 100 m elevation bands, starting at 0 ± 50–1800 ± 50 m a.s.l. We used categories starting at −50 m to surround the elevation sites that are typically on the 100 m. EC: Soil measurements of electrical conductivity (EC) were taken with a HH2 Moisture Meter Wet Sensor (Wet-2) (Delta T Devices, Cambridge, England) in February and August 2014. Electrical conductivity measures the salt content of a soil sample based on the conduction of electricity (the greater the salt concentration, the greater the conductivity between the probe electrodes) and is a field-based surrogate measure of salinity (Hardie and Doyle 2012). At each elevational site, field readings were recorded by inserting the probe 6.5 cm into the ground at 10-30 haphazardly selected locations. EC_corrected: Soil measurements of electrical conductivity (EC) corrected for temperature were taken with a HH2 Moisture Meter Wet Sensor (Wet-2) (Delta T Devices, Cambridge, England) in February and August 2014. Electrical conductivity measures the salt content of a soil sample based on the conduction of electricity (the greater the salt concentration, the greater the conductivity between the probe electrodes) and is a field-based surrogate measure of salinity (Hardie and Doyle 2012). At each elevational site, field readings were recorded by inserting the probe 6.5 cm into the ground at 10-30 haphazardly selected locations. P_ppm: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014 in August 2014. Inorganic elemental analysis was completed at the University of Guelph Laboratory Services by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for: Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Sodium, Sulphur, and Iron. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. Na_ppm: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. Inorganic elemental analysis was completed at the University of Guelph Laboratory Services by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for: Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Sodium, Sulphur, and Iron. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. K_ppm: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. Inorganic elemental analysis was completed at the University of Guelph Laboratory Services by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for: Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Sodium, Sulphur, and Iron. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. Mg_ppm: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. Inorganic elemental analysis was completed at the University of Guelph Laboratory Services by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for: Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Sodium, Sulphur, and Iron. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. Na_Mg_K_ppm: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. Inorganic elemental analysis was completed at the University of Guelph Laboratory Services by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for: Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Sodium, Sulphur, and Iron. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. Ca_ugg: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. Mg_ugg: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. P_ugg: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. K_ugg: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. Na_ugg: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. S_ugg: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. Fe_ugg: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. Na_Mg_Ca_K_ugg: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. Na_Mg_K_ugg: Soil samples (6.5cm3) were extracted from the surface and used for elemental analysis in August 2014. A second analysis of elements in soil was conducted at SGS Argifood Laboratories (ug/g) by ICP using ammonium acetate extraction for P, K, Mg and Na. - Data-specific information for: 260129_CacaoDailyPrecipData_2013-2026.csv - 1. Number of variables:10 2. Number of cases/rows: 3. Missing data codes: 4. Variable List: count: tipping bucket measurement of HOBO RG3M datalogger. Each ‘count’ is 0.2 ml. DATES: Date measurement recorded in Y-m-d (year-month-day) year: year each measurement recorded. ymnth: month in each year when the measurement was recorded julian: Julian day for each measurement recorded. julian_year: YYYY_julian combination for each measurement recorded. site: Unique alphanumeric code for each site. lat: latitude for each site long: longitude for each site elev: elevation for each site. - Data-specific information for: 260129_CacaoSoilTempTimeseriesWrangledForDataset.csv - 1. Number of variables: 131 2. Number of cases/rows: 3. Missing data codes: 4. Variable List: date: Date measurement recorded in format Y-m-d H:M:S (year-month-day hour-minute-second). temp: Temperature in degree Celsius (). DATES: Date measurement recorded in Y-m-d (year-month-day) site: Unique alphanumeric code for each site. lat: latitude for each site long: longitude for each site elev: elevation for each site. hour: hour each measurement recorded minute: minute (within hour) that each measurement recorded. month: month each measurement recorded. year: year each measurement recorded. julian: Julian day for each measurement recorded. julian_year: YYYY_julian combination for each measurement recorded. - Data-specific information for: 260129_CacaoTempTimeseriesWrangledForDataset.csv - 1. Number of variables: 14 2. Number of cases/rows: 3. Missing data codes: 4. Variable List: period: incremental increase per measurement recorded in the order data arranged (site & date). date: Date measurement recorded in format Y-m-d H:M:S (year-month-day hour-minute-second). temp: Temperature in degree Celsius (). DATES: Date measurement recorded in Y-m-d (year-month-day) site: Unique alphanumeric code for each site. lat: latitude for each site long: longitude for each site elev: elevation for each site. hour: hour each measurement recorded minute: minute (within hour) that each measurement recorded. month: month each measurement recorded. year: year each measurement recorded. julian: Julian day for each measurement recorded. julian_year: YYYY_julian combination for each measurement recorded. - Methodological information - 1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: See related publications (linked above) for full methodological information. 2. Description of methods used for processing the data: See related publications (linked above) for full methodological information. 3. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret and use the data: See related publications (linked above) for full methodological information. 4. Standards and calibration information, if appropriate: 5. Environmental/experimental conditions: 6. Describe any quality assurance procedures performed on the data: 7. People involved with data collection, processing, analysis and/or submission: Smith, Alexander (Department of Integrative Biology. College of Biological Sciences. University of Guelph.)