Meetnetten.be - Larvae and metamorph counts for Amphibia in Flanders, Belgium

Frederic Piesschaert1, Jeroen Speybroeck1, Dimitri Brosens2, Toon Westra1, Peter Desmet1, Hannes Ledegen3, Sam Van de Poel4, Marc Pollet1, Peter Desmet5

1 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), , Belgium; 2 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)/ Belgian Biodiversity Platform, , Belgium; 3 Natuurpunt, , Belgium; 4 Natuurpunt, ; 5 

Corresponding author(s): Frederic Piesschaert (frederic.piesschaert@inbo.be)Jeroen Speybroeck (jeroen.speybroeck@inbo.be)Dimitri Brosens (dimitri.brosens@inbo.be)Toon Westra (toon.westra@inbo.be)Peter Desmet (peter.desmet@inbo.be)Hannes Ledegen (hannes.ledegen@natuurpunt.be)Sam Van de Poel (sam.vandepoel@natuurpunt.be)Marc Pollet (marc.pollet@inbo.be)

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

Piesschaert F, Speybroeck J, Brosens D, Westra T, Desmet P, Ledegen H, Van de Poel S, Pollet M (2021): Meetnetten.be - Larvae and metamorph counts for Amphibia in Flanders, Belgium. v1.13. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Dataset/Samplingevent. https://doi.org/10.15468/swgure https://doi.org/10.15468/swgure

Abstract

Meetnetten.be - Larval and metamorph counts for Amphibia in Flanders, Belgium is a sampling event dataset published by the Research Institute of Nature and Forest (INBO). It is part of the Meetnetten.be suite of monitoring networks for priority species in Flanders, in which data are collected at fixed locations using a standardized protocol (https://meetnetten.be). This dataset contains site counts for 3 priority species (Triturus cristatus, Hyla arborea, Pelobates fuscus), as well as other amphibian species observed during sampling. Here, it is published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each sampling event an eventID, date, location and sampling protocol (in the event core), maximum depth, number of sweeps, pH, presence of fish, shading, pond surface, permanent water column and water quality at the time of the event (in the measurement or fact extension) and for each occurrence an occurrenceID, the number of recorded individuals, status (present/absent) and scientific name (in the occurrence extension). Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/inbo/meetnetten-occurrences/issues
Generalized and/or withheld information: as these are sensitive priority species, location information is generalized to 1, 5 or 10 km Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid cells. Original locations are available upon request.
We have released this dataset to the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero waiver. 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.
For all published Meetnetten.be datasets, see https://www.gbif.org/dataset/search?project_id=meetnetten.be

Keywords: Occurrence, Salamanders, frogs, newt, freshwater, monitoring, priority species, Samplingevent

Project details

Project title: Meetnetten.be
Personnel: Frederic Piesschaert
Funding: Flemish Government
Study area descriptions/descriptor: Flanders, Belgium
Design description: Each monitoring network consists of fixed sample locations in which target species are counted based on a standardized protocol. Data collection relies mainly on specialized volunteers, coordinated by the NGO Natuurpunt Studie. Fieldwork is planned and monitored with the web tool https://meetnetten.be, which is also used for entering the collected data.

Data published through GBIF: https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=meetnetten-amfibieen-larven-metamorfen-occurrences

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: The target species for Meetnetten.be are listed at https://meetnetten.be/#group-1. Other salamanders observed during the sampling are also included. This dataset covers the amphibian fyke protocol, for which there are 3 target species.
Taxonomic ranks
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata
Species: Triturus cristatus, Hyla arborea, Pelobates fuscus
Common names: great crested newt, common tree frog, common spadefoot toad

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Flanders, Belgium
Coordinates: 50°40'12''N and 51°30'36''N Latitude; 2°31'48''E and 5°56'24''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: January 1, 2016 - December 31, 2019

Methods

Method step description: 
- . 	Researchers from INBO and Natuurpunt Studie define and document the appropriate sampling protocol for the target species.
- . 	Fieldwork is planned and coordinated by Natuurpunt Studie, using https://meetnetten.be.
- . 	Data are collected in the field by specialized volunteers, using the predefined sampling protocol.
- . 	Volunteers enter the collected data in https://meetnetten.be.
- . 	A custom SQL view is created in the meetnetten.be database to map the original data to Darwin Core as an event core with an occurrence extension
- . 	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: 1. Triturus cristatus, or the great crested newt, is our largest native newt. It is widespread in Flanders, especially in wide river valleys and in locations with (many) old bomb pits. Although the crested newt appears to react positively to the construction of new pools near existing populations in nature reserves, it seems to be declining in the outlying area. This species prefers fish-free pools with sun-drenched banks and rich underwater vegetation  located in a varied terrestrial habitat. These include cattle drinking pools in meadows with many small landscape elements, large (spring) pools in more wooded habitats, cut-off rivers, but also old quarries.

2. Pelobates fuscus, or the common spadefoot toad, is found in fishless cattle drinking pools and relatively nutrient-rich ponds, but also in cut brook and river meanders in a fairly open, sandy environment. These are often water features in (buffered) heathlands, but also near dikes and even vegetable gardens and extensively managed fields. This type of habitat is rare in Flanders. The common spadefoot currently only occurs in the central part of Limburg.

3. Hyla arborea, or the common tree frog, is found in the scrubland of the Limburgse Kempen, a restricted section of the Antwerpse Kempen near the Belgian-Dutch border, and the dunes of the Zwin. In recent years, the Flemish population has increased.
Sampling description: In June - mid-July, larvae are counted to determine reproductive success. In order to quantify the larvae present, a net should be dipped per 2 m of shoreline (where possible and suitable).  Each two-metre piece (one dip movement), the number of larvae is noted. In total, you feed a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 30 scoop movements.
Sampling was done using the protocol described in De Bruyn et al. (2015), updated by Speybroeck et al. (2020), and explained to volunteers in Lewylle et al. (2017).
Quality control description: Data are collected using a predefined sampling protocol.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Meetnetten.be - Larvae and metamorph counts for Amphibia in Flanders, Belgium
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://ipt.inbo.be/archive.do?r=meetnetten-amfibieen-larven-metamorfen-occurrences
Publication date of data: 2021-04-15
Language: English
Licences of use: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2020-07-30
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
De Bruyn L, Speybroeck J, Maes D, De Knijf G, Onkelinx T, Piesschaert F, Pollet M, Truyens P, Van Calster H, Westra T, Quataert P (2015). Monitoringsprotocol kamsalamander. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2015 (INBO.R.10186543). Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. INBO.R.10186543
Lewylle I. & H. Ledegen. 2017. Veldwerkhandleiding Kamsalamander. Natuurpunt Studie, Mechelen
Speybroeck J, De Bruyn L, Van de Poel S, Ledegen H, Westra T (2020). Monitoringsprotocol amfibieën en reptielen. Versie 2.0. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2020 (22). Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. https://doi.org/10.21436/inbor.17954118