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It includes data collected from individually monitored sheep including measures of gut bacteria community structure, parasites, immunology, morphology, health and fitness. We also collected data on local weather conditions and vegetation in the area the sheep live. The study took place in the Village Bay area of the island of Hirta in the St Kilda archipelago, off North-West Scotland. Data was collected between 2019 and 2022 inclusive. Data and samples from individual sheep was collected using well-established fieldwork methods that have been used on this population continuously since 1985 as part of a long-term study. Sheep are caught and uniquely marked for identification at birth and then closely monitored throughout the year. Many of the study area animals are caught and measured and blood and faecal samples are taken each summer. Additionally, as part of this project, around 200 animals were faecal sampled regularly across the year by following and collecting samples off the pasture without capture. We used well-established 16S meta-barcoding methods to measure the bacterial community structure from faecal samples, and used methods described in the supplementary info document to measure parasite burden and immune phenotypes in faecal and blood samples, respectively. This data will allow us to test how variation in the gut bacterial community is shaped by genetics and environment, and in turn influences health and fitness, in animals experiencing natural conditions. It was conducted by a collaborative team based at the Universities of Edinburgh, Liverpool, Sheffield and Aberystwyth, the Moredun Research Institute and the James Hutton Institute.","distributionFormats":[{"name":"Comma-separated values (CSV)","type":"text/csv","version":"unknown"}],"distributorContacts":[{"organisationName":"NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre","organisationIdentifier":"https://ror.org/04xw4m193","role":"distributor","email":"info@eidc.ac.uk"}],"funding":[{"funderName":"Natural Environment Research Council","funderIdentifier":"https://ror.org/02b5d8509","awardTitle":"The Ecology Within","awardNumber":"NE/R016801/1","orcid":false,"ror":true}],"hasOnlineServiceAgreement":true,"id":"54f192dd-a9ca-4ecb-9540-a29a17669418","incomingCitationCount":0,"infoLinks":[{"url":"https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/sd/54f192dd-a9ca-4ecb-9540-a29a17669418.zip","name":"Supporting information","description":"Supporting information available to assist in re-use of this dataset","function":"information","type":"OTHER"}],"keywordsOther":[{"value":"animal ecology","uri":"http://www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/concept/420"},{"value":"bacteria"},{"value":"parasites"},{"value":"immunology","uri":"http://www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/concept/4158"},{"value":"morphology","uri":"http://www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/concept/5369"},{"value":"Soay sheep"}],"keywordsTheme":[{"value":"Evolutionary ecology","uri":"http://onto.nerc.ac.uk/CEHMD/topic/19"}],"licences":[{"value":"This resource is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence","code":"license","uri":"https://eidc.ac.uk/licences/ogl/plain"}],"lineage":"Sheep life history and morphology data is logged in an application in the field and then fed directly into a bespoke database for internal processing. Faecal samples were initially prepared and frozen in the field and transported back to laboratories in Edinburgh. parasite counts are performed and DNA extracted from these samples via established methodologies which were then sent for meta-barcoding sequencing to measure the nematode parasite and bacterial community structure evident in the sample. Informatic pipelines were developed and applied prior to the data being placed on public genetic data repositories. Blood samples were prepared and frozen in the field and then assayed for immunological measures using established protocols at the Moredun Research Institute. Weather data was downloaded directly from weather stations and collated. Vegetation was initially collected onto spreadsheets prior to collation.","metadataDate":"2026-06-29T18:13:04","notGEMINI":true,"onlineResources":[{"url":"https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/data/54f192dd-a9ca-4ecb-9540-a29a17669418","name":"Download the data","description":"Download a copy of this data","function":"download","type":"OTHER"},{"url":"https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/sd/54f192dd-a9ca-4ecb-9540-a29a17669418.zip","name":"Supporting information","description":"Supporting information available to assist in re-use of this dataset","function":"information","type":"OTHER"}],"pointsOfContact":[{"displayName":"Daniel Nussey","organisationName":"University of Edinburgh","organisationIdentifier":"https://ror.org/01nrxwf90","role":"pointOfContact","email":"dan.nussey@ed.ac.uk","fullName":"Daniel Nussey","pointOfContact":"University of Edinburgh"}],"publicationDate":"2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z","publishers":[{"organisationName":"NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre","organisationIdentifier":"https://ror.org/04xw4m193","role":"publisher","email":"info@eidc.ac.uk"}],"resourceIdentifiers":[{"code":"https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/54f192dd-a9ca-4ecb-9540-a29a17669418"},{"code":"10.5285/54f192dd-a9ca-4ecb-9540-a29a17669418","codeSpace":"doi"}],"resourceType":{"value":"dataset"},"responsibleParties":[{"displayName":"Daniel Nussey","organisationName":"University of Edinburgh","organisationIdentifier":"https://ror.org/01nrxwf90","role":"pointOfContact","email":"dan.nussey@ed.ac.uk","fullName":"Daniel Nussey","pointOfContact":"University of Edinburgh"},{"honorificPrefix":"Professor","familyName":"Nussey","givenName":"Daniel H.","organisationName":"University of Edinburgh","organisationIdentifier":"https://ror.org/01nrxwf90","role":"author","email":"dan.nussey@ed.ac.uk","fullName":"Nussey, D.H."},{"honorificPrefix":"Dr","familyName":"Sweeny","givenName":"A.R","organisationName":"University of Edinburgh","organisationIdentifier":"https://ror.org/01nrxwf90","role":"author","email":"amyr.sweeny@gmail.com","fullName":"Sweeny, A.R."},{"honorificPrefix":"Professor","familyName":"Pakeman","givenName":"Robin","organisationName":"James Hutton Institute","role":"author","email":"Robin.Pakeman@hutton.ac.uk","fullName":"Pakeman, R."},{"honorificPrefix":"Professor","familyName":"McNeilly","givenName":"Tom","organisationName":"Moredun Research Institute","role":"author","email":"Tom.McNeilly@moredun.ac.uk","fullName":"McNeilly, T."},{"organisationName":"University of Edinburgh","role":"rightsHolder"},{"organisationName":"NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre","organisationIdentifier":"https://ror.org/04xw4m193","role":"custodian","email":"info@eidc.ac.uk"},{"organisationName":"NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre","organisationIdentifier":"https://ror.org/04xw4m193","role":"publisher","email":"info@eidc.ac.uk"}],"rightsHolders":[{"organisationName":"University of Edinburgh","role":"rightsHolder"}],"spatialReferenceSystems":[{"code":"http://www.opengis.net/def/crs/EPSG/0/4326","title":"WGS 84"}],"spatialRepresentationTypes":["textTable"],"spatialResolutions":[{"distance":"100"}],"temporalExtents":[{"begin":"2019-01-01","end":"2022-12-31"}],"title":"Gut bacterial community, parasite, immunology, morphology, health and fitness data from wild Soay sheep and associated local vegetation and weather data, St Kilda, Scotland, 2019-2022","topicCategories":[{"value":"biota","uri":"http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/metadata-codelist/TopicCategory/biota"}],"topics":["http://onto.nerc.ac.uk/CEHMD/topic/19"],"type":"dataset","uri":"https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/54f192dd-a9ca-4ecb-9540-a29a17669418","useConstraints":[{"value":"This resource is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence","code":"license","uri":"https://eidc.ac.uk/licences/ogl/plain"}]}