Florabank2: a grid-based database on distribution of bryophytes in the northern part of Belgium (Flanders and the Brussels Capital region)

Wouter Van Landuyt1, Dimitri Brosens2, Dirk De Beer3

1 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), , Belgium; 2 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)/ Belgian Biodiversity Platform, , Belgium; 3 Werkgroep Bryologie en Lichenologie, , Belgium

Corresponding author(s): Wouter Van LanduytDimitri BrosensDirk De Beer

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Van Landuyt W, Brosens D, De Beer D (2023). Florabank2: a grid-based database on distribution of bryophytes in the northern part of Belgium (Flanders and the Brussels Capital region). Version 1.10. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=florabank2-occurrences&v=1.10

Abstract

Florabank2 is a database that contains distributional data on the bryophytes of Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region. It holds about Two hundred thousand records of mosses (Liverworths, Hornworths and Mosses), dating from 1800 till present. The database is an initiative of the Bryological and Lichenological Society of Flanders “Werkgroep Bryologie en Lichenologie” (www.mossenkorstmossen.be), the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO: www.inbo.be) and the National Botanic Garden of Belgium (www.br.fgov.be). Florabank aims at centralizing botanical distribution data gathered by both professional and amateur botanists and to make these data available to the benefit of nature conservation, policy and scientific research.
The occurrence data contained in Florabank2 are extracted from checklists, literature and herbarium specimen information. Of survey lists, the locality name (verbatimLocality), species name, observation date and IFBL square code, the grid system used for plant mapping in Belgium (Van Rompaey 1943), is recorded. Analysis of herbarium specimens in the collection of the National Botanic Garden of Belgium, the University of Ghent and the University of Liège provided interesting distribution knowledge concerning rare species, this information is also included in Florabank2.
All data in Florabank2 is georeferenced. Every record holds the decimal centroid coordinates of the IFBL square containing the observation. The uncertainty radius is the smallest circle possible covering the whole IFBL square, which can measure 1 Km² or 4 Km². Florabank is a work in progress and new occurrences are added as they become available; the dataset will be updated through GBIF on a regularly base.

Keywords: Occurrence, Observation, grid mapping, flora, indigenous species, archeophytes, naturalised aliens

Data published through GBIF: https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=florabank2-occurrences

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: bryophytes
Taxonomic ranks
Subphylum: Bryophyta, Anthocerophyta, Marchantiophyta

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Flanders, Belgium and Brussels Capital Region, Belgium
Florabank deals with distribution data of the wild flora of Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region (Federal states of the Kingdom of Belgium). Florabank covers an area of 13.682 km². Flanders has a temperate maritime climate influenced by the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, with relatively moderate summers and mild winters. Flanders is the northern part of Belgium. The two main geographical regions of Flanders are the Yser basin, in the North-West and the central plain. Flanders is divided in 6 ecoregions (Dunes district; Kempens district; Loam district; River Maas; Polder district, Sand and Loam district). The Brussels Capital region is a small region (162 km²) surrounded Flanders and is entirely situated in the Loam district. The majority of this region is highly urbanized and only the southern part is occupied by a large beech forest.
Coordinates: 50°41'16.8''N and 51°31'8.4''N Latitude; 2°32'16.8''E and 5°52'40.8''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: January 1, 1800 - June 1, 2022

Methods

Method step description: 
- . 	The Florabank2 dataset is a custom made SQL view of the Florabank database hosted in the Research Institute for Nature and Forest. The view shows only those data that are accepted for publication in the Darwin Core standard. Fields given are: locality, basisOfRecord, institutionCode, language, collectionCode, scientificName   ,vernacularName, kingdom, taxonRank , scientificNameAuthorship, countryCode, eventDate, recordedBy, occurrenceStatus, individualCount, samplingProtocol, decimalLatitude , decimalLongitude, GeodeticDatum, locationID, coordinateUncertaintyInMeters, verbatimCoordinates, verbatimCoordinateSystem, VerbatimSRS, license, accessRights, rightsHolder, type, datasetID, datasetName, georeferenceRemarks, occurrenceRemarks, continent
- . 	data was recorded following the sampling protocols
- . 	data was stored in the Florabank database
- . 	A custom SQL view is created in the florabank database to map the original data to Darwin Core as an occurrence core
- . 	the Darwin Core views are connected to the INBO IPT and documented with metadata
- . 	the dataset is published and registered with GBIF
Study extent description: The spatial coverage of the territory has evolved through time. The data from the period before 1939 pertains mostly to herbarium specimens and reflects only part of the vascular plant composition of the region. From 1939 onwards most observations are collected using a standardized protocol based on the methodology used for the Atlas of the flora of Belgium and Luxemburg (Van Rompaey and Delvosalle 1972). The atlas area is covered by a grid of 4 × 4 Km squares, which is further subdivided into 1 × 1 Km squares.
Sampling description: All species observed during a visit to a grid cell of 1 km² were recorded without distinguishing between common or rare species. In each 4 × 4 km square, more than one 1 km² squares were surveyed. The inventories dating from the period 1939–1971 fed the Atlas of the flora of Belgium and Luxemburg (Van Rompaey and Delvosalle 1972) (figure 2), while those from 1972–2004 served to produce that by Van Landuyt et al. (2006) (figure 3). During the first period (figure 2) only one survey of 1km² in each grid of 4 × 4km was required, during the second period we attempted to obtain data from at least four 1 km² grids in each grid of 4x4 km. From 2005 onwards we continued to gather data using the same protocol.
Quality control description: All records are validated before they are added to Florabank2. The basic reference for quality control is the Belgian atlas (Van Rompaey and Delvosalle 1972). New data to be entered into the database are first submitted to a preliminary, automatic control. Observations pertaining to common species which were previously validated to occur in the neighbouring grid cells of 4 × 4 km squares over the last 35 years are automatically validated. Observations of species that are considered rare, or common species that have not been recorded in the neighbouring grid cells since 35 years are subjected to a manual control by experts. If the record concerns a location validated by other sources (e.g. recent herbarium specimens, peer reviewed papers) it is validated by the managers of the database, if not the observers can be asked to provide extra proof of their observation (e.g. herbarium specimens or photographs). Once an observation is validated (automatically or by the database manager) it can be considered for the validation of new observations.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Florabank2: a grid-based database on distribution of bryophytes in the northern part of Belgium (Flanders and the Brussels Capital region)
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://ipt.inbo.be/archive.do?r=florabank2-occurrences
Publication date of data: 2023-11-09
Language: English
Licences of use: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2022-06-02
Hierarchy level: Dataset