Kristijn Swinnen

• PhD Biology
• Head of Research at Natuurpunt

Habitat management is necessary for the conservation of threatened species, yet best practices in fragmented human-dominated landscapes have remained difficult to generalise. We show that multi-scale vegetation management decisions in heathlands can be supported by integrating opportunistic citizen science data and multispectral satellite data. Opp...

The Red List criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) prescribe that Red Lists should preferably be revised every ten years. This is the first Red for macro-moths in Flanders. For this, we used three of the five possible IUCN criteria, i.e., changes in distribution (IUCN criterion A), the extent of occurrence (IUCN crit...

Opportunistically collected species occurrence data are often used for species distribution models (SDMs) when high-quality data collected through standardized recording protocols are unavailable. While opportunistic data are abundant, uncertainty is usually high, e.g. due to observer effects or a lack of metadata. To increase data quality and impr...

We present an overview of wildlife-vehicle collision (WVC) liability covering 36 European countries. We reviewed approaches to WVC liability which are currently in effect across Europe and their potential consequences for WVC reporting. To obtain relevant information, we conducted a survey, including a web-based questionnaire. We retrieved answers...

Early detection and rapid response are essential to deal effectively with new introductions of invasive alien species (IAS). Citizen science platforms for opportunistic recording of species are increasingly popular, and there is potential to harvest their data for early detection of IAS, but this has not been tested. We evaluated the potential of d...

https://www.gbif.org/dataset/2c38cf8a-f981-4dfb-bc9d-dd2b6fc792ed Waarnemingen.be / observations.be - List of species observed in Belgium is a species checklist dataset published by Natuurpunt and Natagora. Waarnemingen.be (in Dutch, managed by Natuurpunt) and observation.be (in French, managed by Natagora) are the two local Belgian subsites of the...

Collisions with powerlines affect birds worldwide, including countries such as Belgium where a nationwide model indicated high avian collision risk in the IJzerbroeken region (seasonally flooded riverside wetlands). Large numbers of waterbirds winter in this area, which is crossed by a 70-kV transmission line. To manage avian collision risk, the tr...

For a long time the extent of the problem of bird mortality because of powerlines collisions was underestimated for Belgian network operator Elia. This changed in 2012 as the collaboration between Elia, Natuurpunt and Natagora was started. During the process of compiling a Belgian risk atlas, the availability of data and how to integrate them into...

This report shows the results of the monitoring of bird-collisions with a 150 kV-voltage line in Malle. Unfortunately, more victims were found after the line was marked with bird-deterrent devices (smalle bird curls) than before. The authors make some assumptions on why this turned out to be so.

https://www.gbif.org/dataset/2c38cf8a-f981-4dfb-bc9d-dd2b6fc792ed Waarnemingen.be / observations.be - List of species observed in Belgium is a species checklist dataset published by Natuurpunt and Natagora. Waarnemingen.be (in Dutch) and observation.be (in French) are the two local Belgian subsites of the global observation.org website. The checkl...

Monitoring of collision victims on a high voltage power line in Ertvelde (Belgium). Due to the way the (small) birdcurls were attached (only on the highest conducting cable, not on the guarding cable), more victims were counted after the bird deterrent devices were attached compared to the situation before the devices were attached.

We investigated the temperature conditions (and thus requirements) of nursery colonies of Common pipistrellus (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) in houses. We compared these conditions with different types of bat boxes. The established temperature at a colony site with bats present has a minimum daily temperature ranging from 13.5 to 22.5°C, and a maximum...

This data paper describes a recent and spatially complete inventory of the terrestrial isopods of Belgium between 2011 and 2020. During these 10 years every 10 × 10 km² cell of the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid in Belgium (373 grid cells) was visited in search for terrestrial isopods. Inventories covered different habitat types in every...

Opportunistic citizen science data are commonly filtered in an attempt to improve their applicability for relating species occurrences with environmental variables. Recommendations on when and how to filter, however, have remained relatively general and associations between species traits and filtering recommendations are sparse. We collected six t...

‘Animals under wheels’ is a citizen science driven project that has collected almost 90,000 roadkill records from Flanders, Belgium, mainly between 2008 and 2020. However, until now, the platform and results have never been presented comprehensively to the scientific community and we highlight strengths and challenges of this system. Data collectio...

Mapping the relative risk of impact on nature by a human infrastructure at a landscape scale (“sensitivity mapping”) is an essential tool for minimising the future impact of new development or for prioritising mitigation of existing impacts. High-voltage power lines (“transmission lines”) are known to increase bird mortality by collision. Here we p...

In dit rapport geven we voor negen taxonomische groepen (vaatplanten, amfibieën en reptielen, vissen, broedvogels, overwinterende watervogels, zoogdieren, dagvlinders, libellen en sprinkhanen en krekels) een geactualiseerde lijst van soorten die belangrijk zijn voor het provinciale natuurbehoud, -beheer en/of -beleid in Antwerpen. De gegevensbronne...

In dit rapport geven we voor negen taxonomische groepen (vaatplanten, amfibieën en reptielen, vissen, broedvogels, overwinterende watervogels, zoogdieren, dagvlinders, libellen en sprinkhanen en krekels) een geactualiseerde lijst van soorten die belangrijk zijn voor het provinciale natuurbehoud, -beheer en/of -beleid in Vlaams-Brabant. De gegevensb...

In dit rapport, dat samen met de vijf provinciale rapporten één geheel vormt, beschrijven we de procedure voor de afbakening van provinciaal prioritaire soorten, maar ook van andere soorten die voor het provinciale natuurbehoud en/of -beleid van belang kunnen zijn. Naast provinciaal prioritaire soorten sensu Bauwens et al. (2001), waarbij de soorte...

In dit rapport geven we voor negen taxonomische groepen (vaatplanten, amfibieën en reptielen, vissen, broedvogels, overwinterende watervogels, zoogdieren, dagvlinders, libellen en sprinkhanen en krekels) een geactualiseerde lijst van soorten die belangrijk zijn voor het provinciale natuurbehoud, -beheer en/of -beleid in West-Vlaanderen. De gegevens...

In dit rapport geven we voor negen taxonomische groepen (vaatplanten, amfibieën en reptielen, vissen, broedvogels, overwinterende watervogels, zoogdieren, dagvlinders, libellen en sprinkhanen en krekels) een geactualiseerde lijst van soorten die belangrijk zijn voor het provinciale natuurbehoud, -beheer en/of -beleid in Limburg. De gegevensbronnen...

In dit rapport geven we voor negen taxonomische groepen (vaatplanten, amfibieën en reptielen, vissen, broedvogels, overwinterende watervogels, zoogdieren, dagvlinders, libellen en sprinkhanen en krekels) een geactualiseerde lijst van soorten die belangrijk zijn voor het provinciale natuurbehoud, -beheer en/of -beleid in Oost-Vlaanderen. De gegevens...

Monitoring of collisions of birds with a high voltage power line in Noordschote (Belgium) before and after this line was equipped with birdcurls.

Simple Summary The peacock butterfly is abundant and widespread in Europe. It used to have a single generation per year: adults born in summer overwintered and reappeared in spring to reproduce. However, recent flight patterns in western Europe show three peaks during the year: a first one in spring (overwintering butterflies), a second one in earl...

Update of monitoring of the impact of high voltage power lines on birds in Belgium (update 2020);

High voltage power line victims n Belgium: an update

Wild boar is one of the most widespread mammals of the world and in many regions wild boar populations continue to expand. Especially in highly anthropogenic landscapes, increasing numbers of wild boar lead to a rising number of contacts with human activities causing human-wildlife impacts. In the heavily fragmented landscape of Flanders (northern...

Monitoring is een essentieel onderdeel bij de doelgerichte bescherming van kwetsbare zoogdiersoorten. Vaak ontbreekt het echter aan voldoende middelen om een gedetailleerde studie van populatietrends mogelijk te maken. Citizen science heeft echter al meermaals bewezen de grenzen van ecologisch onderzoek te kunnen verleggen. Dankzij de gebundelde ge...

Natuurpunt Studie started a Skinner light trap network in 2008 to monitor the abundance of nocturnal macro-moths in Flanders. Preliminary results based on standardized counts are presented. Between 2009 and 2018 data were collected from a total of 168 sample sites, mostly in gardens, although not all these sites were sampled each year. There were s...

GBIF occurrence dataset: https://www.gbif.org/dataset/71cfd412-6327-4ec7-8035-d8b2d0509ac5 Waarnemingen.be - Hymenoptera occurrences in Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region, Belgium is a species occurrence dataset published by Natuurpunt. The dataset contains over 260,000 bee, wasp and ant (Hymenoptera) occurrences of 1,188 naturally occurring...

The Chequered Skipper Carterocephalus palaemon inhabits a variety of habitats in NW Europe: heathlands, wet grasslands and chalk grasslands, usually at woodland edges and wide rides and glades in different types of woodlands. It mainly uses broadleaved grasses such as Molinia, Calamagrostis and Brachypodium as host plants. The species became extinc...

Beavers are known for their ability to build dams that change the environment. They also occupy territories where they do not construct dams. The goal of this study was to determine which environmental factors influence beaver dam construction and to examine the upstream water level increase caused by the dams. We compared factors collected at 15 b...

Monitoring of bird collisions on a high-voltage powerline in Noordschote (Belgium)

Monitoring of bird-collisions on a high-voltage powerline in Diepenbeek (Belgium)

Monitoring of bird collisions on high-voltage powerlines in Belgium: an update

De vraag naar gegevens over de toestand van de biodiversiteit is sterk toegenomen. Tegelijk zijn er vaak te weinig kwaliteitsvolle biodiversiteitsgegevens om vragen van beheerders en het beleid te beantwoorden. Burgerwetenschap of citizen science kan hierop in vele gevallen een antwoord bieden. De lancering van waarnemingen.be in 2008 in België hee...

In een wereld die zich alsmaar meer online afspeelt, worden échte natuurervaringen schaarser. Precies daarom worden ze ook unieker en aantrekkelijker: steeds meer mensen zoeken bewust de natuur op. Op waarnemingen.be zien we jaar na jaar een stijgend aantal natuurwaarnemingen en waarnemers. In tien jaar groeide het platform uit tot een interactieve...

Natuurinformatie wordt steeds meer gebruikt. Er wordt dan ook verwacht dat die informatie gratis als open data voor iedereen beschikbaar wordt gesteld. Maar wat denken de waarnemers daarvan? En is dit haalbaar?

Citizen scientists make important contributions to the collection of occurrence data of non-native species. We present two datasets comprising more than 520,000 records of 1,771 non-native species from Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region in Belgium, Western Europe, collected through the website http://www.waarnemingen.be hosted by Stichting Na...

https://www.gbif.org/dataset/37e094f3-dcf2-469f-93a2-c4b9b5fa7275 Waarnemingen.be - Hemiptera occurrences in Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region, Belgium is a species occurrence dataset published by Natuurpunt. The dataset contains over 59,000 Hemiptera occurrences of 789 naturally occurring species (native, vagrant or migrant species), record...

Amphibian funnel traps: a study on the efficiency of two types of funnel traps The efficiency of two types of amphibian funnel traps (Vermandel traps vs. harmonica traps) were compared in a field test. The Vermandel traps proved the most efficient, trapping more newts and detecting all species that comprise the local newt community on a more frequ...

https://www.gbif.org/dataset/958b1d2f-2d11-4e94-a828-c8e2d2c013ca Waarnemingen.be - Orthoptera occurrences in Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region, Belgium is a species occurrence dataset published by Natuurpunt. The dataset contains over 90,000 Orthoptera occurrences of 41 naturally occurring species (native, vagrant or migrant species), reco...

Waarnemingen.be - Plant occurrences in Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region, Belgium is a species occurrence dataset published by Natuurpunt. The dataset contains almost 1.2 million plant occurrences of 1,222 native vascular plant species, mostly recorded by volunteers (citizen scientists), mainly since 2008. The occurrences are derived from th...

Zoogdieren observeren is leuk. Deze waarnemingen vervolgens gecentraliseerd opslaan helpt bij natuurstudie. Hoewel deze gegevens zeer waardevol zijn, is de informatie die losse waar- nemingen opleveren beperkt. Door ook je route te registreren help je om meer informatie uit waarnemingen te halen. En het is niet moeilijk!

The protected Eurasian beaver Castor fiber is recolonizing its former range hereby entering human-dominated landscapes. This ecosystem engineer can cause considerable damage to human infrastructures and agriculture, by feeding, digging and damming. To prevent human–wildlife conflict and ensure continued support from the local residents, a better un...

Met zijn brede graafpoten en een ondergrondse levenswijze is de Veenmol een bijzondere verschijning onder de Belgische sprinkhanen en krekels. De soort kende in recente decennia in heel Noordwest-Europa een sterke achteruitgang. Grote delen van zijn natuurlijk biotoop zijn verdwenen en in de tuinbouw-cultuur wordt hij actief bestreden omdat hij tij...

Poster presented on Symposium 15 year Natuur.focus

Het opzet van dit onderzoek was het nagaan van zwermgedrag van vleermuizen in de fortengordels rond Antwerpen, met het oog op het ontwikkelen van een standaardmethode voor onderzoek naar en monitoring van zwermgedrag in forten. Deel 1 (https://www.natuurpunt.be/node/20526) van dit rapport beschrijft de onderzoeksmethode, het uitgevoerde onderzoek...

Activity patterns play an important role in the fitness of animals. Energy conservation, physiological adaptations, prey availability, competition, and predation caused by predators and humans are all important parameters influencing when, and where, animals are active. Over time, however, a change in such external factors can lead to a shift in op...

Camera traps have proven very useful in ecological, conservation and behavioral research. Camera traps non-invasively record presence and behavior of animals in their natural environment. Since the introduction of digital cameras, large amounts of data can be stored. Unfortunately, processing protocols did not evolve as fast as the technical capabi...

Nature Message: "The Beaver conquers Flanders" [in Dutch] https://www.natuurpunt.be/nieuws/de-bever-verovert-vlaanderen-20120327

Beavers in Flanders. [in Dutch]