VIS - Fishes in estuarine waters in Flanders, Belgium

Dataset type

Deze dataset bevat primaire waarnemingsgegevens voor soorten.

Beschrijving

VIS - Fishes in estuarine waters in Flanders, Belgium is a species occurrence dataset published by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) and described in Brosens et al. 2015 https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.475.8556). The dataset contains over 70,000 fish occurrences sampled between 1992 and 2012 from almost 50 locations in the estuaries of the river Yser and the river Scheldt, in Flanders, Belgium. The dataset includes 69 fish species, as well as a number of non-target crustacean species. The data are retrieved from the Fish Information System (VIS), a database set up to monitor the status of fishes and their habitats in Flanders and are collected in support of the Water Framework Directive, the Habitat Directive, certain red lists, and biodiversity research. Additional information, such as measurements, absence information and abiotic data are available upon request. Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/LifeWatchINBO/data-publication/tree/master/datasets/vis-estuarine-occurrences Length and weight measurement data of the individual fishes, absence information, occurrence data since 2013, as well as abiotic data of the sampling points (pH, temperature, etc.) are not included in the Darwin Core Archive and are available upon request. To allow anyone to use this dataset, we have released the data to the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero waiver http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). We would appreciate however, if you read and follow these norms for data use http://www.inbo.be/en/norms-for-data-use) and provide a link to the original dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/estwpt) whenever possible. If you use these data for a scientific paper, please cite the dataset following the applicable citation norms and/or consider us for co-authorship. We are always interested to know how you have used or visualized the data, or to provide more information, so please contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata, opendata@inbo.be or https://twitter.com/LifeWatchINBO.

Geografische beschrijving

Flanders is one of the three administrative regions in the country of Belgium, located in the centre of Western Europe. The Flemish region is situated in the north of the country and covers an area of 13,522 km² (44,29% of Belgium). Belgium has a temperate maritime climate that is influenced by the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean with substantial precipitation in all seasons. The summers are moderate and the winters are mild. The two main geographical regions of Flanders are the coastal plain in the North-West and the Central plain, further inland. With 470 inhabitants/km², Flanders is one of the most densely populated areas of Europe. The three major rivers are the River Yser, the River Scheldt, and the River Meuse. All rivers in Flanders flow into the North Sea, but only the River Yser drains directly into the sea within the jurisdiction of Flanders.

The dataset comprises the estuaries of the River Scheldt, including tidal parts of the rivers Rupel, Durme, Zenne, Dijle and Grote Nete, and the River Yser. The River Scheldt is a 435 km long lowland river originating on the plateau of Saint-Quentin near Gouy, a small town in the French department of Aisne. The river enters Belgium close to Tournai. Then the river turns east, in the direction of Antwerp. After crossing the city of Antwerp, the Scheldt enters the Netherlands where it ends in the North Sea near Vlissingen. The tidal influence extends much further land inward than the freshwater-saltwater boundary. As a result, an extensive freshwater region under tidal influence is present. The tidal activity goes as far as Ghent, 160 km from the river mouth, where the tide is stopped by sluices. In the Zeeschelde (the Belgian part of the estuary), three zones are distinguished following the Venice system (1959): a mesohaline zone (5–18 g salt/kg) between Zandvliet and Antwerp, an oligohaline zone (0.5–5 g salt/kg) between Antwerp and Temse, including the Rupel tributary, and a tidal freshwater zone till Ghent including the Durme tributary. The marshes and mudflats create a valuable landscape for biodiversity. The Scheldt estuary is one of the last natural deltas in Western Europe and many areas near its riverbanks are marked as Natura 2000 areas (Figure 7). Especially its freshwater estuary areas are unique.

The River Yser is a 78 km long river originating in Kassel, located in French Flanders. It enters Belgium in the province of West Flanders and drains into the sea near the town of Nieuwpoort. Sea and fresh water meet in an estuary, resulting in 130 hectares of tidal mud flats, salt marshes, dunes, beaches, and polders.

Doel

The Fish Information System or VIS http://vis.milieuinfo.be) is a database created by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) which is used to monitor the status of fishes and their habitats in Flanders, Belgium and to calculate the biotic integrity (Karr 1981, Belpaire et al. 2000, Breine et al. 2004, 2007, 2010) of fish assemblages. It contains data regarding occurrences, individual morphometrics, stocks, pollutants, indices, and non-native fish species. Sampling has been going on since 1992, the database model was designed in 1994 (Verbiest et al. 1994), the first database developed in 1996 (Verbiest et al. 1996), and the consolidated database set up in 2001. VIS is used for supporting NATURA 2000, an ecological network of protected areas in Europe and to calculate the EQR (Ecological Quality Ratio) in the framework of the EU Water Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC). Further, the database provides updated information for Flemish Red Lists of fishes and lampreys (Verreycken et al. 2014) and on the distribution status of non-native and invasive fish species. The data are also crucial in fish stock management and for reporting on the status of the European eel stock as required by the Eel Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) N° 1100/2007). This dataset is a standardized extraction of all estuarine species occurrences from VIS.

Gegevenskwaliteit

Strict field protocols where used. The Manual for Application of the European Fish Index (EFI) (Fame consortium 2004) served as a guideline for electrofishing and was used in support of the EU water framework directive.

Methoden

Water type: Estuaries

Method: fyke fishing, anchor netting, pound netting, electric fishing

Effort: Fykes: 2 paired nets for two successive days per site. Winged fyke: one per site for two successive days. Anchor netting: per site 4 surveys of one hour (two for each tide). Electric fishing: only in flood control areas (250 m shore transects/ha).

Type inhoud

Omvat: Puntvoorkomstengegevens.

Bronvermelding

Breine J, Verreycken H, De Boeck T, Brosens D, Desmet P (2014): VIS - Fishes in estuarine waters in Flanders, Belgium. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Dataset/Occurrence. https://doi.org/10.15468/estwpt Data paper: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.475.8556

Rechten

To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.

Gedigitaliseerde records

Metadata voor het laatst bijgewerkt op 2025-06-23 11:56:17.0