Invasive species - American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in Flanders, Belgium

Occurrence Observation
Latest version published by Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) on May 15, 2025 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
Home:
https://www.inbo.be/nl/onderzoeksgroepen/faunabeheer
Publication date:
15 May 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 11,637 records in English (357 KB) - Update frequency: annually
Metadata as an EML file download in English (26 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (18 KB)

Description

Invasive species - American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in Flanders, Belgium is a species occurrence dataset published by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). The dataset contains over 7,500 occurrences (25% of which are American bullfrogs) sampled between 2010 until now, in the months April to October. The data are compiled from different sources at the INBO, but most of the occurrences were collected through fieldwork for the EU co-funded Interreg project INVEXO (http://www.invexo.eu). In this project, research was conducted on different methods for the management of American bullfrog populations, an alien invasive species in Belgium. Captured bullfrogs were almost always removed from the environment and humanely killed, while the other occurrences are recorded bycatch, which were released upon catch (see bibliography for detailed descriptions of the methods). Therefore, caution is advised when using these data for trend analysis, distribution range calculation, or other. Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/inbo/data-publication/tree/master/datasets/invasive-bullfrog-occurrencesWe strongly believe an open attitude is essential for tackling the IAS problem (Groom et al. 2015). 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/10.15468/2hqkqn) 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.

Data Records

The data in this occurrence 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 11,637 records.

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:

Devisscher S, Adriaens T, Louette G, Brosens D, Desmet P (2025). Invasive species - American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in Flanders, Belgium. Version 1.18. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Occurrence dataset. https://doi.org/10.15468/2hqkqn

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: ea95fd9b-58dc-4e48-b51f-9380e9804607.  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

Occurrence; Observation; American bullfrog; Lithobates catesbeianus; Rana catesbeiana; amphibians; invasive alien species; non-native species; management; captures; eradication; Flanders; Occurrence

Contacts

Sander Devisscher
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Research assistant
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
  • Kliniekstraat 25
1070 Brussels
Brussels Capital Region
BE
Tim Adriaens
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator
  • Researcher
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
  • Kliniekstraat 25
1070 Brussels
Brussels Capital Region
BE
Gerald Louette
  • Originator
  • Researcher
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
  • Kliniekstraat 25
1070 Brussels
Brussels Capital Region
BE
Dimitri Brosens
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator
  • Data liaison officer
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
  • Kliniekstraat 25
1070 Brussels
Brussels Capital Region
BE
Peter Desmet
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator
  • Data lab coordinator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
  • Kliniekstraat 25
1070 Brussels
Brussels Capital Region
BE

Geographic Coverage

Flanders, Belgium. Most of the data originate from the province of Antwerp, as this province currently holds the main stronghold of the American bullfrog population.

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

Taxonomic Coverage

The sampling focus for this dataset is American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus (Shaw 1802) syn. Rana catesbeiana Shaw 1802), which represents 25% of the occurrences. The other occurrences are recorded bycatch (native amphibians, fish, non-native crayfish, invertebrates).

Kingdom Animalia (animals)
Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes), Amphibia (amphibians), Crustacea (Crustaceans), Insecta (insects)
Species Lithobates catesbeianus (American bullfrog)

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 2010-04-27 / 2018-01-01

Sampling Methods

Sampling occurs yearly between April and October. Most of the captures are made with paired fyke nets which are placed at the bottom of ponds and lakes for about 24 hours, but other methods are used as well (indicated in samplingProtocol). With each capture, the number of bullfrogs at each developmental stage is recorded (indicated in lifeStage), as well as bycatch species (native amphibians, fish, non-native crayfish, invertebrates) which were released upon catch. Also recorded are date, location, number of employees involved, and start and end time of the capture event. Captures are conducted for research purposes (management efficiency, determination of population density, etc.) and the active management of bullfrogs. All captured bullfrogs (tadpoles and adults) are humanely killed following international and regional regulation (see bibliography for methods), except for the ponds 13353 to 13362, 13371, and 13372, where the bullfrogs were released for research purposes concerning passive management by introducing native predatory fish. During the INVEXO project (2010 - 2012) those larvae were marked for capture recapture purposes. During the post-INVEXO project (2013) captured (sub)adult bullfrogs received an unique marking on their hind toe webs for the same reason, as well as to receive insight into their movement.

Study Extent Bullfrog infested ponds and lakes in Flanders, Belgium.
Quality Control Data collection and species identifications were performed by professional scientists or research assistants. The data was encoded in the INBO Recorder6 instance. De data was mapped to Darwin Core using a custom SQL query. All species are validated against the INBO nameserver species lists.

Method step description:

  1. See above.

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Adriaens T (2013) Managing invasive aliens through habitat restoration and biomanipulation: The case of American Bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus in Belgium. 2nd International Congress on Biological Invasions - Biological Invasions, Ecological Safety and Food Security. Abstract book p. 133 http://www.icbi2013.org/admin/down/201401171009122826.pdf
  2. Adriaens T, Devisscher S, Louette G (2013) Risk analysis of American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus (Shaw). Risk analysis report of non-native organisms in Belgium. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2013 (INBO.R.2013.41). Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. http://ias.biodiversity.be/species/risk
  3. Devisscher S, Adriaens T, De Vocht A, Descamps S, Hoogewijs M, Jooris R, van Delft J, Louette G (2012). Beheer van de stierkikker in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2012 (52). Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. https://www.inbo.be/nl/publicatie/beheer-van-de-stierkikker-vlaanderen-en-nederland
  4. Devisscher S, Adriaens T, Jooris R, Louette G, Casaer J (2013) Opvolging van Amerikaanse stierkikker Lithobates catesbeianus in de provincie Antwerpen - Onderzoeksopdracht in het kader van post-Invexo Actieplan stierkikker. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2013 (711500). Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. https://www.inbo.be/nl/publicatie/opvolging-van-amerikaanse-stierkikker-lithobates-catesbeianus-de-provincie
  5. Devisscher S, Louette G, Adriaens T (2014) Current status and management of American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus in Flanders. Science for the new regulation Abstractbook: BENELUX Conference on invasive species. p. 47 https://data.inbo.be/purews/files/6449340/Devisscher_etal_2014_In_Boets.pdf
  6. Louette G (2012) Use of a native predator for the control of an invasive amphibian. Wildlife Research, 39(3), 271-278. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR11125 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR11125
  7. Louette G, Devisscher S, De Vocht A, Hoogewijs M, Jooris R, Adriaens T (2012) De Stierkikker in Vlaanderen: naar een gericht beheer van een invasieve exoot. Natuur.focus. 11(4), 144-149. http://www.natuurpunt.be/sites/default/files/documents/publication/natuur.focus_2012-4_de_stierkikker_in_vlaanderen._naar_een_gericht_beheer.pdf
  8. Louette G, Devisscher S, Adriaens T (2013) Control of invasive American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus in small shallow water bodies. European journal of wildlife research 59(1), 105-114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-012-0655-x https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-012-0655-x
  9. Louette G, Devisscher S, Adriaens T (2014) Combating adult invasive American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus. European journal of wildlife research, 60(4), 703-706. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0829-9 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0829-9
  10. Lowe SJ, Browne M, Boudjelas S (2000) 100 of the world's worst invasive alien species: A selection from the Global Biodiversity Species Database. Auckland, New Zealand: Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) http://www.issg.org/pdf/publications/worst_100/english_100_worst.pdf
  11. Groom QJ, Desmet P, Vanderhoeven S, Adriaens T (2015) The importance of open data for invasive alien species research, policy and management. Management of Biological Invasions (2015) Volume 6, Issue 2: 119–125 https://doi.org/10.3391/mbi.2015.6.2.02 https://doi.org/10.3391/mbi.2015.6.2.02

Additional Metadata

Purpose
Alternative Identifiers ea95fd9b-58dc-4e48-b51f-9380e9804607
https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=invasive-bullfrog-occurrences