Invasive species - American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in Flanders, Belgium

Citation

Description

Invasive species - American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in Flanders, Belgium is a species occurrence dataset published by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). The dataset contains over 7,500 occurrences (25% of which are American bullfrogs) sampled between 2010 until now, in the months April to October. The data are compiled from different sources at the INBO, but most of the occurrences were collected through fieldwork for the EU co-funded Interreg project INVEXO (http://www.invexo.eu). In this project, research was conducted on different methods for the management of American bullfrog populations, an alien invasive species in Belgium. Captured bullfrogs were almost always removed from the environment and humanely killed, while the other occurrences are recorded bycatch, which were released upon catch (see bibliography for detailed descriptions of the methods). Therefore, caution is advised when using these data for trend analysis, distribution range calculation, or other. Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/LifeWatchINBO/data-publication/tree/master/datasets/invasive-bullfrog-occurrences

We strongly believe an open attitude is essential for tackling the IAS problem (Groom et al. 2015). 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 it 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/10.15468/2hqkqn) 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.

Purpose

The increasing establishment of invasive alien species (IAS) present many challenges for policy makers, managers and researchers. An adequate response to IAS requires accurate and up-to-date information on their distribution. This information can only be provided if IAS data are available and usable by all. American bullfrog is a high profile IAS. Due to its broad global distribution and widespread effects on native biodiversity through various impact mechanisms, American bullfrog is listed as one of the top 100 most invasive alien species in the world by the IUCN (Lowe et al. 2000). The species is suspected to cause substantial ecological damage around large parts of the globe, exerting an additional pressure to already declining amphibian populations. Negative impacts on native biota entail competition, predation and the transmission of pathogens. Subsequently, in Europe, it is listed on the SEBI worst list of invasive non-native species with high impact on biodiversity, as well as the DAISIE list of the worst invasive aliens in Europe. For the same reasons, the species is included in the appendix to the Bern Convention recommendation n° 77 (1999) as a species which has proved to be a strong threat to biological diversity and for which eradication is strongly recommended. Moreover, the EU Wildlife Trade Regulation (338/97) Appendix B prohibits import of the species into the EU since December 1997. It is listed as a species of EU concern sensu the EU Regulation 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of IAS. The data in this dataset are useful for scientific purposes such as distribution modelling, as well as early warning and rapid response protocols, but note that bullfrogs (25% of the occurrences) were almost always removed from the environment during the research and eradication campaign.

Sampling Description

Taxonomic Coverages

Geographic Coverages

Bibliographic Citations

1. Adriaens T (2013) Managing invasive aliens through habitat restoration and biomanipulation: The case of American Bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus in Belgium. 2nd International Congress on Biological Invasions - Biological Invasions, Ecological Safety and Food Security. Abstract book p. 133 http://www.icbi2013.org/admin/down/201401171009122826.pdf -
2. Adriaens T, Devisscher S, Louette G (2013) Risk analysis of American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus (Shaw). Risk analysis report of non-native organisms in Belgium. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2013 (INBO.R.2013.41). Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. http://ias.biodiversity.be/species/risk -
3. Devisscher S, Adriaens T, De Vocht A, Descamps S, Hoogewijs M, Jooris R, van Delft J, Louette G (2012). Beheer van de stierkikker in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2012 (52). Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. https://www.inbo.be/nl/publicatie/beheer-van-de-stierkikker-vlaanderen-en-nederland -
4. Devisscher S, Adriaens T, Jooris R, Louette G, Casaer J (2013) Opvolging van Amerikaanse stierkikker Lithobates catesbeianus in de provincie Antwerpen - Onderzoeksopdracht in het kader van post-Invexo Actieplan stierkikker. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2013 (711500). Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel. https://www.inbo.be/nl/publicatie/opvolging-van-amerikaanse-stierkikker-lithobates-catesbeianus-de-provincie -
5. Devisscher S, Louette G, Adriaens T (2014) Current status and management of American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus in Flanders. Science for the new regulation Abstractbook: BENELUX Conference on invasive species. p. 47 https://data.inbo.be/purews/files/6449340/Devisscher_etal_2014_In_Boets.pdf -
6. Louette G (2012) Use of a native predator for the control of an invasive amphibian. Wildlife Research, 39(3), 271-278. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR11125 - https://doi.org/10.1071/WR11125
7. Louette G, Devisscher S, De Vocht A, Hoogewijs M, Jooris R, Adriaens T (2012) De Stierkikker in Vlaanderen: naar een gericht beheer van een invasieve exoot. Natuur.focus. 11(4), 144-149. http://www.natuurpunt.be/sites/default/files/documents/publication/natuur.focus_2012-4_de_stierkikker_in_vlaanderen._naar_een_gericht_beheer.pdf -
8. Louette G, Devisscher S, Adriaens T (2013) Control of invasive American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus in small shallow water bodies. European journal of wildlife research 59(1), 105-114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-012-0655-x - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-012-0655-x
9. Louette G, Devisscher S, Adriaens T (2014) Combating adult invasive American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus. European journal of wildlife research, 60(4), 703-706. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0829-9 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0829-9
10. Lowe SJ, Browne M, Boudjelas S (2000) 100 of the world's worst invasive alien species: A selection from the Global Biodiversity Species Database. Auckland, New Zealand: Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) http://www.issg.org/pdf/publications/worst_100/english_100_worst.pdf -
11. Groom QJ, Desmet P, Vanderhoeven S, Adriaens T (2015) The importance of open data for invasive alien species research, policy and management. Management of Biological Invasions (2015) Volume 6, Issue 2: 119–125 https://doi.org/10.3391/mbi.2015.6.2.02 - https://doi.org/10.3391/mbi.2015.6.2.02