Development of the Flemish flora monitoring network

In order to monitor the changes in the distribution of plant species, reliance has hitherto mainly been placed on a series of distribution atlases that mapped the distribution of all species across the whole of Flanders. To a great extent, this depended – and still depends – on volunteers, and usually took several decades to complete. It has therefore been decided to create a monitoring network with a shorter monitoring interval based on a limited sample. This monitoring network will be mainly useful for detecting rapid changes in the more common species. Rarer species will have to be monitored through a habitat monitoring network.