Checklist of alien mammals of Belgium

Checklist Inventory Thematic
Latest version published by Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) on Feb 4, 2025 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
Publication date:
February 4, 2025
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 36 records in English (14 KB) - Update frequency: as needed
Metadata as an EML file download in English (20 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (16 KB)

Description

The checklist of alien mammals of Belgium is a species checklist dataset published by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). It contains information on alien mammal species recorded in the wild in Belgium since 1976. Both established species and occasional records (casuals) are included, but with information on the degree of establishment of species following the unified invasion framework of Blackburn et al. (2011). The checklist is published here as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each (sub)species: the scientific name and classification (in the taxon core), the presence in Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region, year of first and last observation in Belgium, the degree of establishment and pathway(s) of introduction (in the distribution extension), coarse habitat information (in the species profile extension), and native range(s) (in the description extension). A reference (scientific, gray literature, online source) to this information is provided. Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/trias-project/alien-mammals-checklist/issues.We have released this dataset to the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero waiver. We would appreciate it if you follow the GBIF citation guidelines (https://www.gbif.org/citation-guidelines) when using the data. If you have any questions regarding this dataset, don’t hesitate to contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata.This dataset was published as open data for the TrIAS project (Tracking Invasive Alien Species http://trias-project.be, Vanderhoeven et al. 2017), with technical support provided by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). It is selected as one of the authoritative sources for the compilation of a unified and reproducible checklist of alien species in Belgium (GRIIS Belgium, Desmet et al. 2023).

Data Records

The data in this checklist 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 36 records.

3 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.

Taxon (core)
36
Distribution 
53
Description 
44
SpeciesProfile 
36

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:

Adriaens T, Huysentruyt F, Dekeukeleire D, Devisscher S, Reyserhove L, Govaert S (2025). Checklist of alien mammals of Belgium. Version 1.5. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Checklist dataset. https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=alien-mammals-checklist&v=1.5

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: 9a52d8bf-864a-4abb-95ba-319c4edfca8d.  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

Checklist; Inventorythematic; checklist; inventory; alien species; mammals; Flanders; Wallonia; Brussels Capital Region; Belgium; TrIAS

Contacts

Tim Adriaens
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
Frank Huysentruyt
  • Originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
Daan Dekeukeleire
  • Originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
Sander Devisscher
  • Originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
Lien Reyserhove
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
Sanne Govaert
  • Originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE

Geographic Coverage

The dataset includes information on the presence of alien mammal species in Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels Capital Region (the three main political regions in Belgium).

Bounding Coordinates South West [49.49, 2.53], North East [51.51, 6.41]

Taxonomic Coverage

In total, this dataset includes 36 alien mammal species., In total, this dataset includes 38 alien mammal species., In total, this dataset includes over 30 alien mammal species., In total, this dataset includes 38 alien mammal species., In total, this dataset includes over 30 alien mammal species.

Kingdom Animalia
Class Mammalia

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 0001-01-01 / 2024-07-18

Project Data

Imagine a future where dynamically, from year to year, we can track the progression of alien species (AS), identify emerging species, assess their current and future risk and timely inform policy in a seamless data-driven workflow. One that is built on open science and open data infrastructures. By using international biodiversity standards and facilities, we would ensure interoperability, repeatability and sustainability. This would make the process adaptable to future requirements in an evolving IAS policy landscape both locally and internationally. The project Tracking Invasive Alien Species (TrIAS) aims to do this for Belgium. For a full project description, see Vanderhoeven et al. (2017, https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.3.e13414).

Title Tracking Invasive Alien Species (TrIAS)
Identifier TrIAS
Funding TrIAS is funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) call for Belgian Research Action through Interdisciplinary Networks (BRAIN).
Study Area Description Belgium
Design Description The project builds on two components: 1) The establishment of a data mobilization framework for alien species data from diverse data sources and 2) the development of data-driven procedures for risk evaluation based on risk modelling, risk mapping and risk assessment. TrIAS uses facilities from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF, http://www.gbif.org), standards from the Biodiversity Information Standards organization (TDWG, http://www.tdwg.org) and expertise from the Open science lab for biodiversity (https://oscibio.inbo.be) to create and facilitate a systematic workflow. Alien species data are gathered from a large set of regional, national and international initiatives, including citizen science data, with a wide taxonomic scope from marine, terrestrial and freshwater environments. Observation data are funnelled in repeatable ways to GBIF. In parallel, a Belgian checklist of alien species is established, benefiting from various taxonomic and project-based checklists foreseen for GBIF publication.

The personnel involved in the project:

Tim Adriaens
  • Author
Peter Desmet
  • Author
Quentin Groom
  • Principal Investigator
Sonia Vanderhoeven
  • Author
Diederik Strubbe
  • Author

Sampling Methods

The data for this checklist are curated from several sources: literature, citizen science portals, animal shelter databases, news articles, firsthand accounts and own records.

Study Extent The checklist incorporates all records of alien mammals observed in the wild in Belgium (subdivided for each of the three main political regions). Both established species and casual records were included.
Quality Control All records are individually validated by species experts (resource creators of this dataset) based on data sources and available information. Unreliable records lacking details were omitted from the dataset.

Method step description:

  1. The source data for this standardized checklist is a Google Spreadsheet and re-uploaded regularly at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LeXXbry2ArK2rngsmFjz_xErwE1KwQ8ujtvHNmTVA6E/edit?gid=716763849#gid=716763849
  2. This raw data file was uploaded to a GitHub repository (https://github.com/trias-project/alien-mammals-checklist).
  3. We developed a RMarkdown script to document and perform the transformation of the data to Darwin Core.
  4. The resulting Darwin Core data files are uploaded to the INBO IPT and documented with metadata. The dataset is published and registered with GBIF.

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Blackburn TM, Pysek P, Bacher S, Carlton JT, Duncan RP, Jarosik V, Wilson JRU & Richardson DM (2011) A proposed unified framework for biological invasions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 26: 333-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.03.023
  2. Convention on Biological Diversity (2014) Pathways of introduction of invasive species, their prioritization and management. UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/18/9/Add.1. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal. https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/sbstta/sbstta-18/official/sbstta-18-09-add1-en.pdf
  3. Desmet P, Reyserhove L, Oldoni D, Groom Q, Adriaens T, Vanderhoeven S, Pagad S (2023). Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species - Belgium. Version 1.13. Invasive Species Specialist Group ISSG. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/xoidmd
  4. Vanderhoeven S, Adriaens T, Desmet P, Strubbe D, Backeljau T, Barbier Y, Brosens D, Cigar J, Coupremanne M, De Troch R, Eggermont H, Heughebaert A, Hostens K, Huybrechts P, Jacquemart A, Lens L, Monty A, Paquet J, Prévot C, Robertson T, Termonia P, Van De Kerchove R, Van Hoey G, Van Schaeybroeck B, Vercayie D, Verleye T, Welby S, Groom Q (2017) Tracking Invasive Alien Species (TrIAS): Building a data-driven framework to inform policy

Additional Metadata

Alternative Identifiers 9a52d8bf-864a-4abb-95ba-319c4edfca8d
https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=alien-mammals-checklist