A database of threat statuses and life-history traits of Red List species in Flanders (northern Belgium)

By

Maes, Dirk
Brosens, Dimitri
T'jollyn, Filiep
Desmet, Peter
Piesschaert, Frederic
Van Hoey, Stijn
Adriaens, Tim
Dekoninck, Wouter
Devos, Koen
Lock, Koen
Onkelinx, Thierry
Packet, Jo
Speybroeck, Jeroen
Thomaes, Arno
Van Den Berge, Koen
Van Landuyt, W. (Wouter)
Verreycken, Hugo

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019-04-05

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

7

Pages

1--19

Subjects

Conservation , Flanders (northern Belgium) , IUCN , life-history traits , red list , threatened species

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.7.e34089
eLocator: e34089

 

Abstract

Red Lists estimate the extinction risk of species at global or regional levels and are important instruments in conservation policies. Global Red List assessments are readily available via the IUCN website (https://www.iucnredlist.org) and are regularly updated by (taxonomic) experts. Regional Red Lists, however, are not always easy to find and often use local criteria to assess the local extinction risk of species.<br> Here, we publish a database with the outcome of 38 Red List assessments in Flanders (northern Belgium) between 1994 and 2018. In total, the database contains 6,224 records of 5,039 unique taxa pertaining to 24 different taxonomic groups. Using a quality control procedure, we evaluated the criteria used, the number of records, the temporal and spatial distribution of the data and the up-to-dateness of the Red Lists. This way, nineteen Red Lists were approved as being of sufficient high quality (i.e. validated) and nineteen others were not. Once validated, Red Lists are approved by the regional Minister of Environment and published in the Belgian Official Gazette acquiring legal status. For the validated Red Lists, we additionally compiled (life-history) traits that are applicable to a wide variety of species groups (taxonomic kingdom, environment, biotope, nutrient level, dispersal capacity, lifespan and cuddliness). The publication of this dataset allows comparison of Red List statuses with other European regions and countries and permits analyses about how certain (life-history) traits can explain the Red List status of species. The dataset will be regularly updated by adding new Red List (re)assessments and/or additional (life-history) traits.