InboVeg - Vegetation Mapping in Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen in Flanders, Belgium

Sampling event Observation
Latest version published by Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) on Jul 23, 2026 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
Publication date:
23 July 2026
License:
CC-BY 4.0

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 294 records in English (79 KB) - Update frequency: not planned
Metadata as an EML file download in English (16 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (12 KB)

Description

This dataset was gathered by INBO as part of a 1995 vegetation inventory in the Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen nature reserve. Certain abiotic data was also collected, but is not presented here. All observations and identifications were made by trained experts. The data comes from INBOVEG, the INBO vegetation record database (also part of the "Global Index of Vegetation-plot databases" and the "European Vegetation Archive"). The GBIF dataset is the same as the data in INBOVeg. The relevant identification code is 'IV2014072211590684'. It has been previously published on GBIF as part of the FLORABANK1 bulk data publication (https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.12.2849) at either a 1 km² or a 4 km² scale; here, it is published with specific locations (with 30m² uncertainty). No coordinate uncertainty was noted in the accompanying report, so 30m² is only an estimate. The coordinates were originally recorded in the Belgian Lambert system, but they are given here as WGS84 coordinates.In the data, under 'Occurrence remarks', the vegetation layer is noted. Details of the sampling protocol, including the vegetation layer codes, are given in the associated report: Butaye, J., De Becker, P. & Maelfait, J.-P. (1995). Verklarende tekst bij de vegetatiekaart van het natuurreservaat de Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen. Instituut voor Natuurbehoud. 101 p. (Rapporten van het instituut voor natuurbehoud; no. 23)This research was carried out by INBO under its previous name (the Institute for Nature Conservation, in Dutch ‘het Instituut voor Natuurbehoud’), on behalf of the City of Ghent. Much of the nature reserve was previously working agricultural grasslands which were taken out of agricultural service in 1974, some 30 years before these vegetation surveys were carried out.To allow anyone to use this dataset, we have released the data to the public domain under a Creative Commons Attribution waiver (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). We would appreciate, 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 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 visualised the data, or to provide more information, so please contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata or via opendata@inbo.be.

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 294 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)
294
Occurrence 
4638

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.

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 (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 95e12e60-ffbf-4a21-bfee-6d01155c6ed4.  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; Observation; INBOVeg; Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen nature reserve; Londo scale

Contacts

J Butaye
  • Originator
INBO
J-P Maelfait
  • Originator
INBO
Piet De Becker
  • Originator
  • Point Of Contact
Maria-Rose Eves Down

Geographic Coverage

Flanders, Belgium

Bounding Coordinates South West [51.054, 3.66], North East [51.07, 3.685]

Taxonomic Coverage

No Description available

Kingdom Plantae

Temporal Coverage

Start Date 1995-06-05

Project Data

At the request of the City of Ghent, a vegetation map of the ‘Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen’ nature reserve was drawn up during the 1995 growing season. A thorough inventory and interpretation of both biotic and abiotic parameters was essential for understanding the relationships and developments within a given ecosystem, and was indispensable for developing a scientifically sound ecological management plan. Furthermore, a baseline condition was needed in order to evaluate the management measures implemented. This vegetation study aimed to shed more light on the evolution of the various vegetation types. From both a botanical and vegetation science perspective and from the point of view of (avi-)fauna conservation, effective vegetation management is the only way to ensure that the area retains its ecological value in the long term as a wintering ground for waterbirds and as a typical East Flemish floodplain and valley grassland area. In an initial phase, around three hundred representative vegetation surveys were carried out. In these surveys, all species within an area of 3 by 3 metres were recorded, together with an estimate of their cover and abundance using Londo’s scale. The raw data was then classified using the Fortran programme TWINSPAN (Hill, 1979) to produce a typology, which formed the basis for an area-wide vegetation map. A brief literature review also provided an overview of the various vegetation types and their habitats. Together with knowledge regarding management, soil, history and topography, this serves as source material for the explanatory text. A comparative study was then carried out using a previously produced vegetation map from 1982. Since the water level maintained at the time of the assessment of the distribution and potential spread of the vegetation types was a determining factor, a detailed topographical survey of the entire study area was also carried out. Using geostatistical techniques, these measurements were interpolated across the entire study area in order to produce a contour map.

Title Vegetation mapping of the Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen nature reserve (Vegetatiekaart van het natuurreservaat de Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen)
Funding The City of Ghent funded this research.
Study Area Description The Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen nature reserve in 1995.
Design Description Please see the associated report (in Dutch) for more details: Butaye, J., De Becker, P. & Maelfait, J.-P. (1995). Verklarende tekst bij de vegetatiekaart van het natuurreservaat de Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen. Instituut voor Natuurbehoud. 101 p. (Rapporten van het instituut voor natuurbehoud; no. 23)

The personnel involved in the project:

Piet De Becker
  • Principal Investigator
J Butaye
  • Principal Investigator
J-P Maelfait
  • Principal Investigator

Sampling Methods

3 m x 3 m test areas/plots were fully surveyed, with all contained species being noted and their abundance estimated using the Londo scale. Below 5%, the symbols 'r' (raro = 1-3 exemplaars), 'p' (paululum = 3-20 exemplaars), 'a' (amplius = 20-100 exemplaren) or 'm'm (multum = >100 exemplaars) were used. The used Londo scale is given in the accompanying report (page 12, Butaye, J., De Becker, P. & Maelfait, J.-P., 1995).

Study Extent The Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen nature reserve, 1995. Due to the limited surveying period, it is assumed that certain vegetation was missed and the surveys therefore do not present an entire view of the vegetation present in the nature reserve during that year.
Quality Control All observations and identifications were made by trained experts. It was difficult to distinguish Myosotis laxa spp. cespitosa, which was instead classified as Myosotis sp. The different types of Agrostis grasses were also generally grouped together, with the exception of certain flowering Agrostis canina individuals which were clearly identifiable.

Method step description:

  1. n/a

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Butaye, J., De Becker, P. & Maelfait, J.-P. (1995). Verklarende tekst bij de vegetatiekaart van het natuurreservaat de Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen. Instituut voor Natuurbehoud. 101 p. (Rapporten van het instituut voor natuurbehoud; no. 23). Available from: https://pureportal.inbo.be/nl/publications/verklarende-tekst-bij-de-vegetatiekaart-van-het-natuurreservaat-d/
  2. Londo, G. The decimal scale for releves of permanent quadrats. Vegetatio 33, 61–64 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00055300

Additional Metadata

To allow anyone to use this dataset, we have released the data to the public domain under a Creative Commons Attribution waiver (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). We would appreciate, 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 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 visualised the data, or to provide more information, so please contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata or via opendata@inbo.be.

Acknowledgements
Maintenance Description This project has been long finished and so no update is expected.
Alternative Identifiers 95e12e60-ffbf-4a21-bfee-6d01155c6ed4
https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=inboveg-vk-bourgoyen-ossemeersen