Glenn Vermeersch
Research Institute for Nature and Forest
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Featured researches published by Glenn Vermeersch.
Biodiversity and Conservation | 2005
Dirk Maes; Dirk Bauwens; Luc De Bruyn; Anny Anselin; Glenn Vermeersch; Wouter Van Landuyt; Geert De Knijf; Marius Gilbert
The present-day geographic distribution of individual species of five taxonomic groups (plants, dragonflies, butterflies, herpetofauna and breeding birds) is relatively well-known on a small scale (5 × 5 km squares) in Flanders (north Belgium). These data allow identification of areas with a high diversity within each of the species groups. However, differences in mapping intensity and coverage hamper straightforward comparisons of species-rich areas among the taxonomic groups. To overcome this problem, we modelled the species richness of each taxonomic group separately using various environmental characteristics as predictor variables (area of different land use types, biotope diversity, topographic and climatic features). We applied forward stepwise multiple regression to build the models, using a subset of well-surveyed squares. A separate set of equally well-surveyed squares was used to test the predictions of the models. The coincidence of geographic areas with high predicted species richness was remarkably high among the four faunal groups, but much lower between plants and each of the four faunal groups. Thus, the four investigated faunal groups can be used as relatively good indicator taxa for one another in Flanders, at least for their within-group species diversity. A mean predicted species diversity per mapping square was also estimated by averaging the standardised predicted species richness over the five taxonomic groups, to locate the regions that were predicted as being the most species-rich for all five investigated taxonomic groups together. Finally, the applicability of predictive modelling in nature conservation policy both in Flanders and in other regions is discussed.
Animal Biology | 2009
Dirk Maes; Anny Anselin; Chris van Swaay; Henk Sierdsema; Luc De Bruyn; Glenn Vermeersch; Hans Van Dyck
National or regional conservation strategies are usually based on available species distribution maps. However, very few taxonomic groups achieve a full coverage of the focal region. Distribution data of well-mapped taxonomic groups could help predict the distribution of less well-mapped groups and thus fill gaps in distribution maps. Here, we predict the distribution of five heathland butterflies in Flanders (north Belgium) using typical heathland bird distribution data as predictor variables. We compare predictions with those using only biotope or a combination of both biotope and bird data as variables. In addition, we test the transferability of ‘bird’, biotope and combined models to the Netherlands, an ecologically similar region. Transferability was tested in three separate sandy regions in the Netherlands at different distances from the region in which the models were built. For each of the five heathland butterflies, we applied logistic regressions on ten random model sets and tested the models on ten random evaluation sets within Flanders. We used the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) plots to estimate model accuracy. Overall, bird models performed significantly better than biotope models but were not significantly different from the combined models in Flanders. In the Netherlands, the transferred biotope and the combined models performed better than the transferred ‘bird models’. We conclude that on a local scale, birds can, to some extent, serve as proxies for biotope quality, but that biotope models are more robust when transferred to another region.
Published in <b>2004</b> in Brussel by Instituut voor Natuurbehoud | 2004
Glenn Vermeersch; Anny Anselin; Koen Devos; Marc Herremans; J Stevens; J Gabriëls; B Van der Krieken
Archive | 2006
Heidi Demolder; Johan Peymen; Tim Adriaens; Anny Anselin; Claude Belpaire; Niko Boone; Lode De Beck; Luc De Keersmaeker; Geert De Knijf; Koen Devos; Joris Everaert; Ivy Jansen; Leon Lommaert; Dirk Maes; Thierry Onkelinx; Ilse Simoens; Maarten Stevens; Marijke Thoonen; Koen Van Den Berge; Beatrijs Van der Aa; Peter Van Gossum; Wouter Van Landuyt; Wouter Van Reeth; Jan Van Uytvanck; Glenn Vermeersch; Hugo Verreycken
Archive | 2007
Heidi Demolder; Johan Peymen; Tim Adriaens; Anny Anselin; Claude Belpaire; Niko Boone; Lode De Beck; Luc De Keersmaeker; Geert De Knijf; Koenraad Devos; Joris Everaert; Ivy Jansen; Leon Lommaert; Dirk Maes; Thierry Onkelinx; Ilse Simoens; Maarten Stevens; Marijke Thoonen; Koen Van Den Berge; Beatrijs Van der Aa; Peter Van Gossum; Wouter Van Landuyt; Wouter Van Reeth; Jan Van Uytvanck; Glenn Vermeersch; Hugo Verreycken
Archive | 2006
Glenn Vermeersch; Anny Anselin; Koen Devos
Archive | 2006
Glenn Vermeersch; Anny Anselin; Koen Devos
NATUUR.FOCUS | 2005
Kris Verheyen; Katrien Piessens; Konjev Desender; H Van Dyck; B Van Elegem; Glenn Vermeersch; W Van Landuyt; Dirk Maes
Vogelnieuws : ornithologische nieuwsbrief van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek | 2015
Glenn Vermeersch; Thierry Onkelinx; Iwan Lewylle
Vogelnieuws : ornithologische nieuwsbrief van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek | 2012
Glenn Vermeersch; Thierry Onkelinx