Author: Lien Reyserhove
Keywords: Occurrence, Observation, Flemish Environment Agency, VMM, damage prevention, animal damage, pest control‚ invasive alien species, muskrat, public awareness campaign

VMM - Rat control occurrences in Flanders, Belgium

Dan Slootmaekers^1, Frank Gevens^2, Lien Reyserhove^3, Damiano Oldoni^3, Peter Desmet^4, Dan Slootmaekers^2, Lien Reyserhove^5

1 Flanders Environment Agency (VMM), ; 2 Flanders Environment Agency (VMM), , Belgium; 3 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), , Belgium; 4 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), ; 5 

Corresponding author(s): Dan Slootmaekers (d.slootmaekers@vmm.be)Frank Gevens (f.gevens@vmm.be)Lien Reyserhove (lien.reyserhove@inbo.be)Damiano Oldoni (damiano.oldoni@inbo.be)Peter Desmet (peter.desmet@inbo.be), Dan Slootmaekers (d.slootmaekers@vmm.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

Slootmaekers D, Gevens F, Reyserhove L, Oldoni D, Desmet P (2024). VMM - Rat control occurrences in Flanders, Belgium. Version 1.115. Flanders Environment Agency (VMM). Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=vmm-rattenapp-occurrences&v=1.115

Abstract

The "VMM - Rat control occurrences in Flanders, Belgium" dataset is an occurrence dataset published by Flanders Environment Agency (VMM). The dataset is assembled by the VMM to monitor and control pest organisms in Flanders from 2016 onwards. It mainly includes observations of muskrats and brown rats, but other animal and plant pest species are included as well. Here it is published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each occurrence record: an occurrenceID, scientific name, number of individuals (optional), date and location. Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/riparias/vmm-rattenapp-occurrences/issues.
We have released this dataset 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.

Keywords: Occurrence, Observation, Flemish Environment Agency, VMM, damage prevention, animal damage, pest control‚ invasive alien species, muskrat, public awareness campaign

Project details

Project title: Reaching Integrated and Prompt Action in Response to Invasive Alien Species (LIFE RIPARIAS)
Personnel: Tim Adriaens, Etienne Branquart, Peter Desmet, Dido Gosse, Jérémie Guyon, Damiano Oldoni, Lien Reyserhove, Sonia Vanderhoeven, Xavier Vermeersch
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 descriptions/descriptor: 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.

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

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: The main species included are muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus, 45%), brown rat (Rattus norvegicus, 15%) and Eurasion beaver (Castor fiber, 10%). The dataset also includes records of water primrose (Ludwigia grandiflora), floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides) and several other animal and plant pest species.
Taxonomic ranks
Kingdom: Plantae, Animalia

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 - May 24, 2022

Methods

Method step description: 
- . 	The source data for this standardized 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-rattenapp-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 a occurrence core file (https://rs.gbif.org/core/dwc_occurrence_2022-02-02.xml).
Study extent description: All public watercourses in Flanders are prospected at least annually. All invasive species are recorded and/or exterminated.
Sampling description: Trappers of the VMM will prospect all streams and water bodies at least twice every year for signs of muskrat or coypu activity. Regions with higher population densities are prospected more frequently. Upon detection of either species, traps are deployed according to the management protocol for muskrat in Flanders (beheerregeling muskusrat in Vlaanderen).
Every trapping site is registered by the trapper through the use of a mobile gps application. Per trapping site the trapper will deploy one or multiple traps, all of which are registered in the application. The traps are checked frequently, preferably daily. Both catches and bycatches are registered for each individual visit to a trapping site. As soon as all muskrats/coypu have been caught at a location or whenever no new signs of rat activity are noticed, the trapper will remove the traps.
For plants, water bodies and streams are visually screened by boat or from the river bank, at least on an annual basis. All records are recorded and/or exterminated.
Quality control description: Imagery is often provided through the registration app. Uncertain ID’s are double checked.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive VMM - Rat control occurrences 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=vmm-rattenapp-occurrences
Publication date of data: 2024-04-25
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2022-05-24
Hierarchy level: Dataset