Meetnetten.be - Transects for fire salamanders in Flanders, Belgium

Frederic Piesschaert1, Jeroen Speybroeck1, Dimitri Brosens2, Toon Westra1, Peter Desmet1, Hannes Ledegen3, Sam Van de Poel3, Marc Pollet1, Dimitri Brosens4

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 

Corresponding author(s): Frederic Piesschaert (frederik.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

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 - Transects for fire salamanders in Flanders, Belgium. v1.10. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Dataset/Samplingevent. https://doi.org/10.15468/nbsk9h https://doi.org/10.15468/nbsk9h

Abstract

Meetnetten.be - Transects for fire salamanders 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 1 priority species (Salamandra salamandra), as well as other amphibians 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) and for each occurrence an occurrenceID, the number of recorded individuals, behaviour, sex, 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: Samplingevent, Fire salamander, 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-vuursalamander-transect-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 fire salamander protocol, for which there is 1 target species.
Taxonomic ranks
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata
Species: Salamandra salamandra

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, 2020

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: Salamandra salamandra, the Fire salamander occurs mainly in old oak and beech forests, where the species reproduces in small brooks, pools and puddles.
Sampling description: Fire salamanders have to be counted along fixed transects of ca. 1 km. Transect counts are walked between August 15th and November 15th on nights with high humidity, and preferably at temperatures higher than 5°C. Animals are searched for by means of a flashlight (6 m to the left and right of the trail). Each transect must be visited at least twice a year.

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 - Transects for fire salamanders 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-vuursalamander-transect-occurrences
Publication date of data: 2021-06-10
Language: English
Licences of use: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2020-07-31
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 vuursalamander. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2015 . Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. INBO.R.2015.10186299
Speybroeck J, Lewylle I. & H. Ledegen. 2017. Veldwerkhandleiding vuursalamander. Natuurpunt Studie, Mechelen https://www.natuurpunt.be/files/veldwerkhandleidingvuursalamanderpdf/download?token=mIOzg6r1
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. doi.org/10.21436/inbor.17954118