Description
The VMM - Inland water macrophyte occurrences in Flanders, Belgium is a sampling event dataset published by the Flanders Environment Agency (VMM). The dataset originates from the macrophyte monitoring network of the VMM and was developed to meet the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). It includes information on more than 4000 sampling events, associated with more than 40 thousand occurrences of inland water macrophytes in Flanders, sampled from 2006 onwards. Here it is published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each sampling event: an stable identifier, the sampling location, date and protocol (in the event core), linked to multiple occurrences of macrophytes (in the occurrence core). Sampling events in water bodies are linked to multiple (a)biotic measurements or facts (in the measurement or facts extension). Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/riparias/vmm-macrophytes-occurrences/issues
We have released this dataset to the public domain under a Creative Commons Attribution License. We would appreciate it if you follow the INBO norms for data use (https://www.inbo.be/en/norms-data-use) 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 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 4,176 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:
De Jonge M, Lavens F, Gabriels W, Verdievel M, Haspeslagh B (2022): VMM - Inland water macrophyte occurrences in Flanders, Belgium. v1.43. Flanders Environment Agency (VMM). Dataset/Samplingevent. https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=vmm-macrophytes-occurrences&v=1.43
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Flanders Environment Agency (VMM). 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: 6e0fb232-04d5-429f-805e-b0877932fdad. Flanders Environment Agency (VMM) publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Belgian Biodiversity Platform.
Keywords
Samplingevent; VMM; IAS; Kaderrichtlijn Water; KRW; Flemish Environment Agency; macrophytes; sampling event; Flanders
Contacts
- Metadata Provider ●
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact
- Metadata Provider ●
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact
- Originator
- Originator
- Originator
- Metadata Provider
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7484-9267
- Metadata Provider
- Metadata Provider
Geographic Coverage
Flanders
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [50.695, 2.516], North East [51.509, 5.845] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
The sampling focus of this dataset is inland macrophytes.
| Kingdom | Plantae (plants) |
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Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 2006-09-15 / 2021-10-05 |
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Project Data
The spread of invasive alien species (IAS) is not hampered by administrative borders. Aquatic IAS, in particular, spread rapidly through the hydrographic network. To effectively control such species requires coordinated management at higher spatial scales. LIFE RIPARIAS (Reaching Integrated and Prompt Action in Response to Invasive Alien Species) aims to achieve such coordination across regional borders in Belgium, supported by open data and open infrastructure for early warning and management reporting. LIFE RIPARIAS aims at improving decision making on IAS management, early warning systems and management reporting tools. To this end, it develops an evidence-based workflow, translating national management objectives into concrete actions in an efficient manner. Ultimately the project aims at increasing the conservation status of aquatic and riparian habitats. More information on LIFE RIPARIAS is available at the project homepage: https://www.riparias.be/. You can also follow LIFE RIPARIAS on Twitter (@LIFEriparias) and Facebook (LIFE Riparias)
| Title | Reaching Integrated and Prompt Action in Response to Invasive Alien Species (LIFE RIPARIAS) |
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| Identifier | LIFE RIPARIAS |
| Funding | LIFE RIPARIAS is co-funded by the three Belgian regions and the European Union in the framework of the LIFE Programme (LIFE19 NAT/BE/000953). It is running from 2021 to 2026. |
| Study Area Description | Dijle, Mark and Zenne river basin of the Scheldt district, Belgium. |
| Design Description | LIFE RIPARIAS focuses on aquatic and riparian plants as well as crayfish species located in the Dijle, Mark and Zenne river basin of the Scheldt district in Belgium. Cumulative observation data collected in 2000-2015, completed by data gathered from field surveillance in 2021-2022, will provide the baseline to design management objectives and define quantitative targets. |
The personnel involved in the project:
- Author
- Author
- Author
Sampling Methods
The period that is suitable for the monitoring of macrophytes in water courses is from the end of May to the end of September. Per water body, 3 not or little shaded stretches of 100 meters are inventoried; those trajectories are located in the upstream, the middle and the downstream part of the water body. All types of aquatic and riverbank plants present are noted on each route with their respective coverage or abundance. For each section of 10 meters, the global cover by submerged aquatic plants is recorded. For the entire 100m trajectory, the cover per species of aquatic plant is noted according to the Tansley cover scale. The species encountered, together with their abundance according to the Tansley scale, are noted on the field worksheet. Coverage is here understood as the vertical projection on the water surface of the surface occupied by each species. This is therefore a two-dimensional fact, different from the filling of the water column. The sum of the cover of all species can be more than 100% since the plants occur in different layers (e.g. one or more layers of helophytes, a duckweed layer and several layers of submerged plants). Only the species that take root in the water or the sediment are noted. Plants that grow in the (wet or dry) bank and hang over in the water without forming roots are therefore not noted. Based on that recording, four sub-measurements are calculated, namely the type specificity, the disturbance, the growth forms and the vegetation development.. The first metric gives an indication of the extent to which the plant community found is characteristic of the type of watercourse; the second indicates the degree of disturbance, mainly due to an excessive amount of nutrients (eutrophication).Certain species are indeed indicators for pollution and when their abundance increases, that negatively influence the dividing metric. The variety of growth forms is indicative for the structure of water and riparian vegetation. Although aquatic plants into diverse systematic groups belong, they may have similar morphological features exhibits related to the environment. Based on the set of morphological features macrophytes are classified according to their characteristic growth form. Finally, the measurement vegetation development is the extent to which (only) the submerged aquatic plants develop.
| Study Extent | The present dataset originates from the macrophyte monitoring network of the Flanders Environment Agency (VMM). This network was developed in 2007 to meet the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). The network encloses all Flemish water bodies where macrophytes are relevant water quality indicators, ranging from large water bodies (drainage area > 50 km²) to smaller bodies (drainage area between 10 and 50 km²). Data collection normally occurs every 3 years (large water bodies) or every 6 years (small water bodies). |
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| Quality Control | The monitoring is based on the standardized VMM procedure for the monitoring of macrophytes in flowing waters (VMM/WAT/GP/3.111). Based on the ISO14001 standard all co-workers are intensely trained for monitoring and determination of aquatic plants. On a regular basis, audits are performed to evaluate the monitoring protocol as a whole. |
Method step description:
- The source data for this standardized sampling event dataset is managed by the Flanders Environment Agency (VMM).
- An SQL script was developed to transform the data to Darwin Core. This mapping script was uploaded to a GitHub repository (https://github.com/riparias/vmm-macrophytes-occurrences/tree/main/sql) and includes the following steps:
- Perform some basic data cleaning of the raw data
- Generate stable and unique identifiers for each occurrence (occurrenceID)
- Create an event core file with all sampling events (https://rs.gbif.org/core/dwc_event_2022-02-02.xml)
- Create a occurrence extension file (https://rs.gbif.org/core/dwc_occurrence_2022-02-02.xml)
- Create a measurement or facts extension file (https://rs.gbif.org/extension/dwc/measurements_or_facts_2022-02-02.xml)
- The resulting Darwin Core files are uploaded to the INBO IPT and documented with metadata.
- The dataset is published and registered with GBIF.
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | 6e0fb232-04d5-429f-805e-b0877932fdad |
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| https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=vmm-macrophytes-occurrences |