ABV - Common breeding birds in Flanders, Belgium

Sampling event
Latest version published by Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) on Sep 20, 2024 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
Publication date:
20 September 2024
License:
CC0 1.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 6,115 records in English (3 MB) - Update frequency: not planned
Metadata as an EML file download in English (24 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (14 KB)

Description

The ABV breeding birds dataset is a sample based dataset contains more than 4500 human observation events with over 200 000 common breeding bird observations. The breeding birds project is a joint initiative of the Institute for Nature and Forest Research (INBO) and the Vlaamse Vogelwerkgroep of Natuurpunt, in collaboration with Natuurpunt Study.

The data is collected to discover trends in long term breeding bird occurrences in Flanders and is used for the EU reporting on trends, distribution and future prospects of the species listed in the Annex 2 and 4 of the Habitats Directive.

Data Records

The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 6,115 records.

1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

Event (core)
6115
Occurrence 
309896

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Vermeersch G, Anselin A, Herremans M, Brosens D (2024). ABV - Common breeding birds in Flanders, Belgium. Version 1.12. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Samplingevent dataset. https://doi.org/10.15468/xj0ikb

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 8ae09016-b819-450e-b8f6-c1f249110502.  Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Belgian Biodiversity Platform.

Keywords

Samplingevent; breeding birds; monitoring; Samplingevent

Contacts

Glenn Vermeersch
  • Originator
  • Point Of Contact
Researcher
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
Havenlaan 88 bus 73
1070 Brussels
Brussels Capital Region
BE
Anny Anselin
  • Originator
  • Point Of Contact
Researcher
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
Havenlaan 88, bus 73
1070 Brussels
Brussels Capital Region
BE
Marc Herremans
  • Originator
Natuurpunt
Coxiestraat 11
2800 Mechelen
Antwerp
BE
Dimitri Brosens
  • Metadata Provider
  • Originator
Biodiversity Research Liaison Manager
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) / Belgian Biodiversity Platform
Havenlaan 88 bus 73
1000 Brussels
Brussels Capital Region
BE

Geographic Coverage

Geographically, Flanders is generally flat, and has a small section of coast on the North Sea. Much of Flanders is agriculturally fertile and densely populated, with a population density of almost 500 people per square kilometer (1,200 per square mile). It touches France to the west near the coast, and borders the Netherlands to the north and east, and Wallonia to the south. The Brussels Capital Region is an enclave within the Flemish Region. (Wikipedia)

Bounding Coordinates South West [50.68, 2.54], North East [51.51, 5.92]

Taxonomic Coverage

Aves

Class Aves
Order Suliformes, Strigiformes, Psittaciformes, Accipitriformes, Anseriformes, Apodiformes, Caprimulgiformes, Charadriiformes, Ciconiiformes, Columbiformes, Coraciiformes, Cuculiformes, Falconiformes, Galliformes, Gruiformes, Passeriformes, Pelecaniformes, Piciformes, Podicipediformes

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 2007-01-01 / 2016-01-01

Sampling Methods

The atlas of breeding birds in Flanders (https://www.gbif.org/dataset/81c5a091-6e94-40db-a2a4-48f4de42d410) was based on territory mapping in 5×5 km UTM-squares with additional information collected in a subset of 8 1×1 km squares (Vermeersch et al., 2004). So, since we already had information in over 5,000 1×1 UTM-squares, we chose that grid as a basis for the new census. The grid was then randomly stratified over 6 habitat types (farmland, woodland, urban, suburban, heathland and marshland) and finally,6 points were randomly assigned to each grid cell (Fig. 1). Each point has to be counted three times in a year in predefined periods (DD/MM): 01/03-15/04, 16/04-31/05 and 01/06-15/07. All six points in a square have to be counted on the same day and subsequent counts of the same points in different periods should lie apart for at least two weeks. A separate study (Onkelinx et al., 2006) was carried out to estimate the sample size needed to calculate good indices for the majority of common species. The study was based on density-figures in 1×1 km squares from the previous atlas. Finally, 1200 squares were randomly chosen from the above mentioned grid. Considering the number of volunteers and to increase geographical coverage and sample size, we chose for a three-year cycle. Initially, every point had two observation circles around it (50 and 150 meters), but after consulting our Dutch colleagues from SOVON, we chose not to use these circles. Instead, this system is preserved for a calibration study in 10 % of all squares that should allow us to calculate density functions for some of the commoner species (see also Van Turnhout, 2006). In this study, all observations will be drawn on a map, while in the ‘normal’ scheme this is not requested. This fieldwork is carried out by INBO staff. The voluntary network Starting from the existing network in the BBV-project, approximately 40 regional coordinators were found throughout Flanders. Natuurpunt and INBO started giving lectures about the project and its methodology in March. Although this was a rather late start, volunteers were very eager to join in and after a few weeks, over 300 squares (for 2007) were already assigned to approximately 150 different people. For the following years, success will be even higher since some regional groups chose to start only next year. All volunteers received maps, field forms and a methodology folder (Bird Census News 2007: 20/1)

Study Extent -Describe the long-term abundance from a set of 101 general breeding birds in Flanders. -Describe the distribution of the selected species and the changes over time. -Describe (relative) densities of a number of species
Quality Control All records are validated. All data obtained from atlas fieldwork were collected on standard recording forms. These were sent to the regional coordinator who checked them thoroughly and contacted volunteers in case of any obvious anomalies.

Method step description:

  1. Bird Census News 2007: 20/1

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Vermeersch et al.: Monitoring common breeding birds in Flanders: a new step towards an integrated system. Bird Census News 2007: 20/1
  2. ANSELIN A, DEVOS K., GEERS V., VAN SANDEN P.& SYMENS D. (1997). Vogelmonitoring in Vlaanderen: ontbreken er nog schakels? De Levende Natuur 98/5:164-168.
  3. ONKELINX T, QUATAERT P & BAUWENS D. (2006) Monitoring of breeding birds – Estimation of sample size. Internal INBO-document, 21 pp.
  4. VAN TURNHOUT, C. (2006) Meetplan monitoring stadsvogels. SOVON onderzoeksrapport 2006/13.
  5. VERMEERSCH G., ANSELIN A., DEVOS K., HERREMANS M., STEVENS J., GABRIËLS J. & VAN DER KRIEKEN B. (2004). Atlas van de Vlaamse broedvogels 2000- 2002. Mededelingen van het Instituut voor Natuurbehoud 23, Brussel, 496p.
  6. Vermeersch G., Anselin A., Devos K., Herremans M., Stevens J., Gabriëls J., Van Der Krieken B. (2004a) Atlas of the breeding birds in Flanders 2000-2002. Bird Census News 2004 1/2: 35-47. http://www.ebcc.info/wpimages/video/BCN_17_1&2.pdf

Additional Metadata

To allow anyone to use this dataset, we have released the data to the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). We would appreciate it however if you read and follow these norms for data use (http://www.inbo.be/en/norms-for-data-use) and provide a link to the original dataset (https://doi.org/10.15468/xj0ikb) whenever possible. If you use these data for a scientific paper, please cite the dataset following the applicable citation norms and/or consider us for co-authorship. We are always interested to know how you have used or visualized the data, or to provide more information, so please contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata, opendata@inbo.be or https://twitter.com/LifeWatchINBO.

Maintenance Description Since 14/02/2017 we have switched to a new portal at www.meetnetten.be. Observations for the new field season of 2017 are submitted via this new portal. Therefore this database will not be updated in the future.
Alternative Identifiers 8ae09016-b819-450e-b8f6-c1f249110502
https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=abv-events