Succession in harvestman (Opiliones) communities within an abandoned sand quarry in Belgium

Sand mining strongly alters the existing landscape, transforming an area into a mosaic of native (sand deposits) and foreign soils, strongly influencing biotic development. The method of restoration of such excavated areas is often debated: natural succession or active restoration. We investigated how natural succession shapes harvestman communities, as part of the soil-dwelling community. We sampled harvestmen over a continuous period of 14 months in 25 plots in an abandoned sand quarry in Belgium using pitfall traps. We found significant increases in harvestman activity-density, species richness and diversity with time since abandonment of the various sections of the quarry. After about 15 years, a drastic change in species composition was observed with the establishment of forest species that more strongly depend on humid conditions to complete their life cycle. Colonisation of harvestmen closely followed vegetation succession despite their limited mobility. We argue that natural succession could be a good management tool for restoring harvestman communities as well as those of other soil-dwelling invertebrates in abandoned sand quarries

Boomkikker en kamsalamander in Vlaanderen : eindelijk van de ondergang gered?

Boomkikker en kamsalamander komen omwille van hun Europese bescherming regelmatig onder de aandacht. Er worden al geruime tijd inspanningen gedaan om deze soorten te beschermen, maar die waren niet altijd even succesvol. Het is pas sinds 2007 dat er dankzij de inzet van vrijwilligers met grootschalige acties en gericht beheer successen worden geboekt. Anno 2018 worden eindelijk nieuwe soortbeschermingsprogramma’s (SBP’s) voor beide soorten in Vlaanderen opgemaakt. Het moment bij uitstek om een overzicht te geven van hoe het beide de afgelopen jaren verging, en welke initiatieven echt het verschil hebben gemaakt, met aandacht voor wat zeker niet mag ontbreken in de nieuwe SBP’s

Woodlice of Belgium: an annotated checklist and bibliography (Isopoda, Oniscidea)

Woodlice are key organisms for nutrient cycling in many terrestrial ecosystems; however, knowledge on this invertebrate group is limited as for other soil fauna taxa. Here, we present an annotated checklist of the woodlice of Belgium, a small but densely populated country in Western Europe. We reviewed all 142 publications on Belgian woodlice, the oldest dating back to 1831 and re-identified all doubtful specimens from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) collection. These data is complemented with observations from extensive field surveys dating from March 2014 until December 2017. We report 36 species of woodlice with free-living populations for Belgium. Nine species can be added compared to the latest checklist published in 2000 being Hyloniscus riparius (C. Koch, 1838), Miktoniscus patiencei Vandel, 1946, Trichoniscoides sarsi Patience, 1908, Haplophthalmus montivagus Verhoeff, 1941, Porcellio monticola Lereboullet, 1853, Metatrichoniscoides leydigii (Weber, 1880), Trichoniscus alemannicus Verhoeff, 1917, Eluma caelata (Miers, 1877) and Philoscia affinis Verhoeff, 1908. Two species are deleted from the checklist (Ligidium germanicum Verhoeff, 1901 and Armadillidium depressum Brandt, 1833) because records are doubtful and no material has been preserved. Additionally the data of the field surveys is used to determine a species status of occurrence in Belgium. For each species, a short overview of their first records is provided and their confirmation as part of the Belgian fauna, their current status, as well as a complete bibliography of the species in Belgium

Platybunus pinetorum (Arachnida, Opiliones) new to Sweden

In 2013 and 2015 several specimens of the opilionid Platybunus pinetorum (C.L. Koch, 1839) were found in Sweden in two different places almost 500 kilometers from each other. The species was not previously known in the country. The discovery initiated a survey of specimens reported as Rilaena triangularis (Herbst, 1799) on two Swedish web pages, in search for misidentified P. pinetorum. A further three specimens of the new species were found, indicating that it is already rather widespread in southern Sweden

An introductory study of house spiders (Araneae) in Belgium

More than 800 spiders were collected in 43 houses heated in winter, distributed mainly in the northern part of Belgium. Information required for the collections to be eligible for the project was: address, construction year, type of house, and surroundings. The spiders were qualified as ‘house spiders’ or ‘garden spiders’. Of the 93 species collected, 19 could be defined as house spiders. Pholcus phalangioides was the most common, followed by Eratigena atrica and Steatoda triangulosa. Garden spiders enter the house much more often in houses in a rural environment than in those situated in clusters, and mainly in spring. The spiders are most common in autumn when many of them are breeding. The common house spiders colonize houses shortly after their construction

Boomkikker en Kamsalamander in Vlaanderen : eindelijk van de ondergang gered?

Boomkikker en Kamsalamander zijn amfibieën die omwille van hun Europese bescherming regelmatig onder de aandacht komen. Ze prijken vaak op infopanelen en folders als ambassadeur voor een gebied of een natuurproject. Er worden al geruime tijd inspanningen gedaan om deze soorten te beschermen. Maar die waren lange tijd niet altijd even succesvol. Het is pas sinds 2007 dat er dankzij grootschalige acties en gericht beheer successen worden geboekt. Dit voornamelijk dankzij lokale en provinciale initiatieven. Sinds 2015 worden soortenbeschermingsprogramma’s (SBP’s) op niveau Vlaanderen opgemaakt. Zijn dergelijke SBP's eindelijk het stapje hogerop? In dit rapport het relaas over het wel en wee van beide soorten met een bespreking van succesvolle maatregelen waarop toekomstige SBP’s voor Boomkikker en Kamsalamander verder kunnen bouwen