Catalogue of the Rust Fungi of Belgium

Study Extent

See Vanderweyen & Fraiture (2007)

Sampling

See Vanderweyen & Fraiture (2007)

Quality Control

See step description.

Method steps

1. The source data for this standardized checklist are the publications Vanderweyen & Fraiture (2007, 2008, 2011) which were manually transcribed to a tab-delimited text file.
2. This raw data file was uploaded to a GitHub repository (https://github.com/trias-project/uredinales-belgium-checklist). See https://trias-project.github.io/uredinales-belgium-checklist for an introduction to this repository and the mapping of this dataset.
3. We developed a RMarkdown script to document and perform the transformation of the data to Darwin Core, which includes the following steps:
4. Perform some basic data cleaning of the raw data.
5. Generate stable and unique identifiers for each taxon (taxonID).
6. Generate the full bibliographic citations (bibliographicCitation).
7. Create a taxon core file (http://rs.gbif.org/core/dwc_taxon.xml). The taxon core provides the taxonomic information for both rust fungi and their recorded host plants.
8. Create a distribution extension file (http://rs.gbif.org/extension/gbif/1.0/distribution.xml), including standardization of the distribution date range.
9. Create a resource relationship extension file (http://rs.gbif.org/extension/dwc/resource_relation_2018_01_18.xml), with information about the interactions between the pathogen (rust fungus) and host plant.
10. The resulting Darwin Core data files are uploaded to the INBO IPT and documented with metadata.
11. The dataset is published and registered with GBIF.

This dataset includes pathogenic rust fungi, i.e. fungi belonging to the order Pucciniales (previously also known as Uredinales), and their known host plants in Belgium. In total, 237 Uredinales species have been recorded in Belgium of which 26 are confirmed as ‘alien’ and 52 as ‘native’. The largest proportion of rust fungi belongs to the Pucciniaceae (78%), followed by the Melampsoraceae (6%) and Phragmidiaceae (6%). Small fractions are classified under the Coleosporiaceae, Pucciniastraceae, Cronartiaceae, Chaconiaceae, Uropyxidaceae, Uropyxidaceae, Raveneliaceae and Chaconiaceae.

1. Fungi
   rank: kingdom
2. Basidiomycota
   rank: phylum

This checklist covers all rust fungi recorded in Belgium. However, the presence of several species must still be confirmed because they are attested only by herbarium specimens or literature.