The checklist of alien herpetofauna of Belgium is a species checklist dataset published by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). It contains information on alien amphibian and reptile species recorded in the wild in Belgium since 1968. Both established species and occasional records are included, but with information on the degree of establishment of species following the unified invasion framework of Blackburn et al. (2011). The checklist is published here as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each (sub)species: the scientific name and classification (in the taxon core), the presence in Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region, year of first and last observation in Belgium (given as a year range in the event date in the distribution extension), coarse habitat information (in the species profile extension), and the degree of establishment, pathway(s) of introduction and native range(s) (in the description extension). Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/trias-project/alien-herpetofauna-belgium. We have released this dataset to the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero waiver. We would appreciate it if you follow the GBIF citation guidelines (https://www.gbif.org/citation-guidelines) 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 https://twitter.com/trias_project. This dataset was published as open data for the TrIAS project (Tracking Invasive Alien Species http://trias-project.be, Vanderhoeven et al. 2017), with technical support provided by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). It is selected as one of the authoritative sources for the compilation of a unified and reproducible checklist of alien species in Belgium.

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 checklist comprises 18.785 species observed in Belgium. Here, it is published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each species: the scientific name, higher classification and stable taxon identifier (in the taxon core), its status (native, introduced) and first and last observation date per region (Flanders, Brussels Capital Region, Wallonia) in Belgium (in the distribution extension). Only observations which were approved by species specialists based on provided evidence (photograph or sound), or which were approved based on expert judgment by the validating experts were considered for publication (see Swinnen et al. 2022 for the validation procedure). Observers’ data-sharing settings were respected at all times. When the first or last observation from a species in a region was not to be shared, observers were contacted to request an exception for this species list. In the few cases this authorisation was not acquired, the next (for the oldest record) or previous (for the most recent record) observation date was considered for publication. This species list does not represent a complete overview of Belgian biodiversity, only species that are recorded in the citizen science platforms waarnemingen.be and observation.be. Other datasets and checklists have to be considered for the compilation of a complete Belgian overview. We have released this dataset under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0). We would appreciate it, however, if you read and follow these norms for data use (http://www.natuurpunt.be/normen-voor-datagebruik). 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 prepared to provide more information or knowledge on how to use the data, so please contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata or natuurdata@natuurpunt.be. This dataset was published as open data for the TrIAS project (Tracking Invasive Alien Species http://trias-project.be, Vanderhoeven et al. 2017, Groom et al. 2022), with technical support provided by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). The subset of introduced species is selected as one of the authoritative sources for the compilation of a unified and reproducible checklist of alien species in Belgium published as the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species - Belgium (Desmet et al. 2021). This way, validated newly reported alien species on the waarnemingen.be/observation.be citizen science portal (Swinnen et al. 2018) quickly find their way to the scientific tools supporting alien species policies and management in Belgium.

The Ad hoc checklist of alien species in Belgium is a species checklist dataset published by the Research Institute of Nature and Forest (INBO). It was specifically created for the TrIAS project (Tracking Invasive Alien Species, http://trias-project.be) to account for gaps in the alien species coverage in other species checklists for Belgium and mainly includes taxonomic groups and newly introduced species not covered elsewhere (yet). Due to its ad hoc nature, the list might change substantially over time. Here it is published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each species: the scientific name, higher classification and stable taxon identifier (in the taxon core), the (confidence regarding the) presence of the species in Belgium (and its regions), the date of first introduction and last assessment (in the distribution extension), coarse habitat information (in the species profile extension), the pathway(s) of introduction, native range(s) and invasion stage in Belgium (in the description extension), and an overview of the consulted literature for each taxon (in the literature references extension). Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/trias-project/ad-hoc-checklist 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 as open data for the TrIAS project (Tracking Invasive Alien Species http://trias-project.be, Vanderhoeven et al. 2017), with technical support provided by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). It is selected as one of the authoritative sources for the compilation of a unified and reproducible checklist of alien species in Belgium.

The Checklist of alien birds of Belgium is a species checklist dataset published by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). It contains information on 244 alien birds species occurring or ever observed in the wild in Belgium since 1800 and is is a compilation of different sources: literature (e.g. scientific papers, reports), citizen science portals (e.g. observations.be, waarnemingen.be, the Belgian Rare Birds Committee http://www.belgianrbc.be) and online databases such as DAISIE (DAISIE 2000) or the Global Avian Invasions Atlas (Dyer et al. 2017). Here, the checklist is published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each species: the scientific name, higher classification and stable taxon identifier (in the taxon core), the presence in Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the year of the first introduction (first collection) and/or last assessment/observation in Belgium (given as a year range in the event date in the distribution extension), coarse habitat information (in the species profile extension), and the pathway(s) of introduction, native range(s) and degree of establishment in Belgium (in the description extension). The checklist can be used for research, to inform horizon-scanning exercises, to perform risk assessments of alien species, to compile regional and national registries of alien species, to feed biodiversity indicators etc. Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/trias-project/alien-birds-checklist We have released this dataset to the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero waiver. We would appreciate it if you follow the GBIF citation guidelines (https://www.gbif.org/citation-guidelines) 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 as open data for the TrIAS project (Tracking Invasive Alien Species http://trias-project.be, Vanderhoeven et al. 2017), with technical support provided by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). It is selected as one of the authoritative sources for the compilation of a unified and reproducible checklist of alien species in Belgium (Desmet et al. https://doi.org/10.15468/xoidmd). The compilation of the checklist was supported by the Short Term Scientific Mission Improving data flows for alien birds in Belgium and drafting a roadmap for alien species citizen science in Romania funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Alien CSI CA17122 - Increasing understanding of alien species through citizen science (https://alien-csi.eu/).