Meetnetten.be - Population counts for dragonflies in Flanders, Belgium

Frederik Piesschaert1, Geert De Knijf1, Dimitri Brosens2, Toon Westra1, Peter Desmet1, Hannes Ledegen3, Marc Pollet1

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

Corresponding author(s): Frederik Piesschaert (frederick.piesschaert@inbo.be)Geert De Knijf (geert.deknijf@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)Marc Pollet (marc.pollet@inbo.be), Peter Desmet

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, De Knijf G, Brosens D, Westra T, Desmet P, Ledegen H, Pollet M (2021): Meetnetten.be - Population counts for dragonflies in Flanders, Belgium. v1.6. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Dataset/Samplingevent. https://doi.org/10.15468/crbudg https://doi.org/10.15468/crbudg

Abstract

Meetnetten.be - Population counts  for dragonflies 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 population counts for 6 priority dragonfly species (Yellow-spotted Whiteface - Leucorrhinia pectoralis, Northern Emerald- Somatochlora arctica,  Spotted Darter - Sympetrum depressiusculum, Crescent Bluet- Coenagrion lunulatum,,  Spearhead Bluet- Coenagrion hastulatum ). 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), the length of the transect (in the measurement or fact extension) and for each occurrence an occurrenceID, the number of recorded individuals, status (present/absent), life stage, sex, behaviour 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, in this dataset, to 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: Samplingevent, Odonata, dragonflies, damselflies, monitoring, priority species, Flanders

Project details

Project title: Meetnetten.be
Personnel: Frederik Piesschaert
Funding: Flemish Government

Study area descriptions/descriptor: Flanders, Belgium

Design description: Each monitoring network consists of fixed sample locations in which the target species is 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-libellen-populatietelling-occurrences

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: The target dragonfly species for Meetnetten.be are listed at https://meetnetten.be/#group-6. Other dragonflies observed during the sampling are also included. This dataset covers the population count protocol, for which there are 6 target species. 

Taxonomic ranks
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Species: Leucorrhinia pectoralis, Somatochlora arctica, Sympetrum depressiusculum, Coenagrion lunulatum, Coenagrion hastulatum
Common names: Yellow-spotted Whiteface, Northern Emerald, Spotted Darter, Crescent Bluet, Spearhead Bluet

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, occurrence extension and measurement or fact 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: Gevlekte witsnuitlibel - Leucorrhinia pectoralis - The Yellow-spotted whiteface occurs in Flanders moderately nutrient-rich pools and bogs.. The water surface of the larval habitat is unshaded and dominated by submerged vegetation in different succession stages. This species is followed up by sitecounts.

Hoogveenglanslibel - Somatochlora arctica - The Northern Emerald favours Sphagnum peat bogs, transition mires and raised bogs, with only very small amount of open water. This species is followed up by sitecounts.

Kempense heidelibel - Sympetrum depressiusculum - The Spotted Darter prefers open and shallow habitats that dry out in  late summer (-September-October) andare flooded again in late spring. The eggs are oviposited in plant tissues and overwinter as such. It is important that the riparian vegetation is open and sparse. The species therefore avoids dense reed vegetation. The Spotted Darter is monitored by sitecounts.

Maanwaterjuffer - Coenagrion lunulatum - The Crescent bluet occurs at oligotrophicfens in a small number of heathlands in the notheastern part of Flanders. This species is followed up by sitecounts.

Speerwaterjuffer - Coenagrion hastulatum - The pearhead Bluet prefersnea moderately nutrient-poor and weak buffered fens and pools. In Flanders, the species can only be found in a few areas in the Limburgse Kempen. The Spearhead Bluet damselfly is monitored by a site count.

Sampling description: Sampling was done using the protocol described in De Knijf et al. (2019) and explained to volunteers in Ledegen et al. (2017).

Gevlekte witsnuitlibel - Leucorrhinia pectoralis 
All individuals above a water body or in its immediate vicinity are counted for 1 hour.. The area counts are done at least twice within the peak flight time, with good dragonfly weather, between 11h and 16.30h. A first visit between 20 May and 10 June, a second between 1 and 30 June.

Hoogveenglanslibel - Somatochlora arctica
All individuals are counted for 1 hour at its larval habitat or in the immediate vicinity .. The area counts are done at least twice within the peak flight time, with good dragonfly weather, between 11h and 16.30h. A first visit between 20 May and 30 June, a second between 1 June and 31 July.

Kempense heidelibel - Sympetrum depressiusculum 
All individuals in a given zone (=area), both near water and surrounding land habitat, are counted for 1 hour. The area counts are done at least twice within the peak flight time, with good dragonfly weather. A first visit between 1 and 10 August, a second between 11 and 31 August.

Maanwaterjuffer - Coenagrion lunulatum 
All individuals above a water body or in its immediate vicinity are counted for 1 hour. The area counts are done at least twice within the peak flight time, with good dragonfly weather, between 11h and 16.30h. A first visit between 20 April and 30 April, a second between 1 May and 20 May.

Speerwaterjuffer - Coenagrion hastulatum 
All adult individuals (i.e., no newly hatched or tenured animals) at the water feature counted for 1 hour. The counts are done at least twice within the peak of the flight time and with good dragonfly weather between 11.00 and 16.30 hrs. A first visit is made between 15 and 31 May, a second between 1 and 20 June.

Quality control description: Speerwaterjuffer - Coenagrion hastulatum 
All adult individuals (i.e., no newly hatched or tenured animals) at the water feature counted for 1 hour. The counts are done at least twice within the peak of the flight time and with good dragonfly weather between 11.00 and 16.30 hrs. A first visit is made between 15 and 31 May, a second between 1 and 20 June.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Meetnetten.be - Population counts for dragonflies 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-libellen-populatietelling-occurrences
Publication date of data: 2021-02-18
Language: English
Licences of use: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2020-06-30
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
De Knijf G, Ledegen H & Westra T (2019) Monitoringsprotocol Libellen. Versie – 2.0. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2019 (49). Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. 
 https://doi.org/10.21436/inbor.17262395
De Knijf G., Adriaens T., Vermylen R. & Van der Schoot P. 2013. Ontdekking van een populatie Rivierrombout (Gomphus flavipes) op het Albertkanaal (België), een van de drukst bevaren kanalen van Europa, en een overzicht van de status in West- en Midden-Europa. Brachytron, 16: 3-17.

Ledegen H & De Knijf G (2017) Veldwerkhandleiding Libellen. Natuurpunt Studie, Mechelen.