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Muskrat captures in Flanders, Belgium

Citation

Cartuyvels E, Brosens D, Adriaens T, Baert K, Desmet P, Devisscher S, Neukermans A, Stuyck J, Huysentruyt F (2021). Muskrat captures in Flanders, Belgium. Version 1.9. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/pequ4z accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-05-21.

Description

Muskrat captures in Flanders, Belgium is an occurrence dataset published by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). It contains information on all officially registered captures of muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) in and around Flanders, Belgium between 1991 and 2018. These data are provided by different management actors: the Flanders Environment Agency (VMM), Rattenbestrijding Oost-Vlaanderen (RATO vzw), Polders and Wateringen (vvpw), and provincial and municipal trappers, and aggregated and analyzed by the INBO since 1991. Here it is published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each occurrence record an occurrenceID, date, location, samplingProtocol (trap) and samplingEffort (number of days or traps), scientific name, and the organization who made the capture. The original dataset contains close to 450.000 occurrences and is available on GitHub, but only presence records (over 103.000) are included in this version, which can be used to track muskrat distribution in Flanders since 1991. Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/inbo/mica-occurrences/issues

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.

This dataset was published for the MICA project, which received funding from the European Union’s LIFE Environment sub-programme under the grant agreement LIFE18 NAT/NL/001047.

Purpose

Muskrat catch data are collected by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) to monitor muskrat populations and the efficiency of their management in Flanders. Management has been going since 1938 and although some data collection happened before 1991 (e.g. Geeraerts-Bracops 1974) it is only from this point forward that all catches were collected systematically per month and per municipality. Since management was and is spread over different management actors (the Flanders Environment Agency (VMM), Rattenbestrijding Oost-Vlaanderen (RATO vzw), Polders and Wateringen (vvpw), and provincial and municipal trappers) data needed to be integrated to get a full view of the status of muskrat populations in Flanders and their management. More recently this dataset has also been used to report (Adriaens et al. 2019) on the management of Invasive Alien Species of Union Concern (Regulation (EU) 1143/2014).

Sampling Description

Study Extent

Muskrats were introduced in 1928 in Belgium as a fur animal. As early as 1938, its eradication was ordered, making the muskrat control program one of the longest standing control programs for any organism in Belgium. Since then, there have been many different actors and control methods, and today the control is still spread over several management actors and public authorities. In 1991 control was organized at the municipal level, many of whom hired private firms to control muskrats (Stuyck 2002). Catches, bait use, effort and bycatches (most of the time) were submitted monthly to Landelijke Waterdienst /AMINAL - afdeling Water by mail. Muskrat control in Flanders was regionalized and strongly professionalized at the end of the 1990s. For-profit trapping and the fur trade of muskrats was banned. The Flanders Environment Agency (VMM) became responsible for controlling muskrats on all streams under Flemish regional jurisdiction. They are complemented by other management actors, such as provincial and municipal trappers, Rattenbestrijding Oost-Vlaanderen (RATO vzw) and Polders and Wateringen (vvpw).

Sampling

Before 2000, baits infused with rodenticides were used to control muskrats. These catches were seldom registered as animals could not be recovered. It is therefore likely that reported catches up until this point in time are an underestimation. Since 2000, Flanders has banned the use of rodenticides for muskrat control and the control is performed purely mechanical using various types of traps. These traps will be laid out either at fixed distances close to the regional borders as a passive control mechanism or they will be placed where traces of muskrat presence are reported as active control mechanisms (Verbeylen et al. 2002). These traps are controlled minimally each week but at high densities it is more likely that a trapper will check them each day. The date of an observation is therefore the date that the animal was retrieved from the trap. Trapping techniques used in Flanders are described in the best practice of Stuyck (2016).

Quality Control

See step description.

Method steps

  1. Source data are submitted by the different management actors on either a monthly or yearly basis. Initially these submission where done by mailing the monthly numbers which were then digitized in Excel spreadsheet. Since the early 2000s all management actors have switched to submitting their catches in Excel spreadsheets.
  2. A csv export of the master Excel spreadsheet was uploaded to a GitHub repository (https://github.com/inbo/muskrat-occurrences).
  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. Create an occurrence core file (http://rs.gbif.org/core/dwc_occurrence_2015-07-02.xml) for presence-only and all data.
  6. The presence-only Darwin Core data file is uploaded to the INBO IPT and documented with metadata.
  7. The dataset is published and registered with GBIF.

Additional info

The authors would like to thank all the different management actors: the the Flanders Environment Agency (VMM), Rattenbestrijding Oost-Vlaanderen (RATO vzw), Polders and Wateringen (vvpw), and provincial and municipal trappers for providing the data and continuing to improve the quality of data collected.

Taxonomic Coverages

This dataset contains officially registered captures of muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) in Flanders and around. Muskrat is listed as an invasive species of EU concern sensu the EU Regulation 1143/2014, which requires member states to prevent or manage its introduction and spread.
  1. Animalia
    common name: animals rank: kingdom
  2. Chordata
    rank: phylum
  3. Mammalia
    rank: class
  4. Ondatra zibethicus
    common name: muskrat rank: species

Geographic Coverages

In and around Flanders, Belgium

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Geeraerts-Bracops M (1974) De strijd tegen de muskusratten. Informatiedossier n° 3. Gemeentekrediet-Leefmilieu, België. -
  2. Stuyck J (2002) De muskusrat, Ondatra zibethicus, in Vlaanderen: introductie, verspreiding en... een jarenlange bestrijding. Bulletin de l'Institut Royal Des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique Biologie, 72, 241-246. -
  3. Stuyck J (2016) Code voor goede praktijk voor het vangen van de muskusrat, Ondatra zibethicus, in Vlaanderen. Implementatie van Europese Overeenkomst inzake internationale normen voor de humane vangst van dieren met behulp van vallen. Brussel: Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek. -
  4. Verbeylen G, Stuyck J, Thomas P & Van der Weeën M (2002) Samenwerkingsovereenkomst “Rattenbestrijding in Natuurgebieden”. Afdeling Water. -
  5. Adriaens T, Verreycken H, Coupremanne M, Branquart E, Barbier Y, Latli A, Devisscher S (2019) Distribution of invasive alien species of Union concern (Regulation (EU) 1143/2014) for the reporting period 2015-2018. Dataset. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3060173 -

Contacts

Emma Cartuyvels
originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
email: emma.cartuyvels@inbo.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7856-6360
Dimitri Brosens
originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) / Belgian Biodiversity Platform
BE
email: dimitri.brosens@inbo.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0846-9116
Tim Adriaens
originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
email: tim.adriaens@inbo.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7268-4200
Kristof Baert
originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
email: kristof.baert@inbo.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1910-1114
Peter Desmet
originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
email: peter.desmet@inbo.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8442-8025
Sander Devisscher
originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
email: sander.devisscher@inbo.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2015-5731
Axel Neukermans
originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
email: axel.neukermans@inbo.be
Jan Stuyck
originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
Frank Huysentruyt
originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
email: frank.huysentruyt@inbo.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3071-9126
Dimitri Brosens
metadata author
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) / Belgian Biodiversity Platform
BE
email: dimitri.brosens@inbo.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0846-9116
Peter Desmet
metadata author
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
email: peter.desmet@inbo.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8442-8025
Emma Cartuyvels
administrative point of contact
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
email: emma.cartuyvels@inbo.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7856-6360
Frank Huysentruyt
administrative point of contact
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
email: frank.huysentruyt@inbo.be
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3071-9126
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