Butterfly monitoring scheme in Flanders, Belgium

Description

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 73,045 records.

2 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.

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:

Maes D, Piesschaert F, Brosens D, Desmet P (2022): Butterfly monitoring scheme in Flanders, Belgium. v1.6. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Dataset/Samplingevent. https://doi.org/10.15468/wwrgcd

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 81b909c7-5612-4148-8e70-99fea2cdb572.  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; butterflies; Lepidoptera; monitoring; Flanders

Contacts

Dirk Maes

• Metadata Provider ●
• Originator ●
• Point Of Contact

Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)

BE

dirk.maes@inbo.be

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7947-3788

Frederic Piesschaert

• Originator ●
• Point Of Contact

Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)

BE

frederic.piesschaert@inbo.be

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5843-646X

Dimitri Brosens

• Metadata Provider ●
• Originator

Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) / Belgian Biodiversity Platform

BE

dimitri.brosens@inbo.be

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0846-9116

Peter Desmet

• Metadata Provider ●
• Originator

Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)

BE

peter.desmet@inbo.be

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8442-8025

Geographic Coverage

Flanders, Belgium

Taxonomic Coverage

The dataset covers 51 species. Nomenclature is according to Wiemers et al. (2018).

Temporal Coverage

Sampling Methods

Sampling was done using the protocol described in Maes et al. (2019). Butterfly transects are in principle up to 1 km long and are divided into sections of 50 m (cf. Pollard & Yates 1993; van Swaay et al. 2008; van Swaay et al. 2011; Sevilleja et al. 2019). The length of 1000 m with up to 20 sections is a target that depends on the size of the area. The route is drawn in on a map or read using a GPS device, for example by using the "route" option of the mobile applications of www.waarnemingen.be (iObs and ObsMapp) or via the Track-Kit application. By using markers or landmarks on the transect, the different sections can be delineated so that the transect can be easily replicated by others. If, for some reason, a section is removed from the transect (e.g. no longer accessible, became completely unsuitable), then this section can either be replaced by a new section or no longer be counted (Onkelinx et al. 2017). In both cases, this must be documented and reported to the monitoring network coordinator so that it can be taken into account in the analyses of the data. Such sections are set to inactive on the input portal, but the data and location remain available for interpretation of historical data. The original numbering of these inactive sections, however, is not reused for the new sections so that there is no confusion in interpreting the data. The location of the different areas is visible at 5 x 5 km² square level to everyone on www.meetnetten.be. The details of the locations are only visible to people who are registered and approved for the monitoring network. Transect counts are conducted between 10-17h in suitable weather conditions for butterflies: temperature ≥ 17°C without clouds or temperature ≥ 20°C if cloudy, wind force ≤ 4 Beaufort and no precipitation. The counting itself is done by walking the transect at a pace that allows the identification of species by sight and noting the number of individuals per section of 50 meters. Sometimes it can be useful to catch a few less easily distinguishable species (e.g. the cabbage whites or skippers) at the same time and to name them at the end of each section. Only butterflies flying in an imaginary cage of 2.5 m left, 2.5 m right, 5 m above and 5 m in front of you are counted. In the Flemish butterfly monitoring scheme, weekly counts are conducted, when weather permits between April 1 and September 30. This makes a total of 26 weeks.

Method step description:

1. Data are collected in the field by specialized volunteers, using the predefined sampling protocol.
2. Volunteers enter the collected data in https://meetnetten.be or via an app in the field.
3. A custom SQL view is created in the meetnetten.be database to map the original data to Darwin Core as an event core, occurrence extension and measurement or fact extension.
4. The Darwin Core views are connected to the INBO IPT and documented with metadata.
5. The dataset is published and registered with GBIF.

Bibliographic Citations

1. Maes D, Vanreusel W, Herremans M, Vantieghem P, Brosens D, Gielen K, Beck O, Van Dyck H, Desmet P, Vlinderwerkgroep Natuurpunt (2016) A database on the distribution of butterflies (Lepidoptera) in northern Belgium (Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region). ZooKeys 585, 143-156. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.585.8019
2. Maes D, Ledegen H, Van de Poel S & Westra T (2019) Monitoringsprotocol Dagvlinders: Versie 2.0. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2019 (56). Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. https://doi.org/10.21436/inbor.16744530
3. Maes D, Piesschaert F, T'jollyn F, Van Dyck H (2020a) Dagvlindermonitoring in Vlaanderen. 1991-2019. Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. https://doi.org/10.21436/inbor.1834447
4. Maes D, Piesschaert F, T’jollyn F, Van Dyck H (2020b) Dagvlindermonitoring in Vlaanderen. Wat leren we van 29 jaren vlinders tellen? Natuur.focus 19, 52-63.
5. Ledegen H, Veraghtert W & Van de Poel S (2018) Veldwerkhandleiding dagvlinders. Natuurpunt Studie, Mechelen.
6. Wiemers M, Balletto E, Dincă V, Fric ZF, Lamas G, Lukhtanov VA, Munguira ML, van Swaay CAM, Vila R, Vliegenhart A, Wahlberg N, Verovnik R (2018). An updated checklist of the European Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). ZooKeys 811, 9-45. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.811.28712

Additional Metadata