Cavity-nesting birds are a highly suitable system to monitor populations in a standardized fashion over long periods of time. The Evolutionary Ecology Group hosts a database with annual breeding and survival data on marked individuals since 1979 for the Peerdsbos site (a 12 hectare plot inside a 300-ha forest) and since 1994 for the Boshoek site (many small woodlots in an agricultural/residential matrix), both near Antwerp. The database also contains data from two other sites near Ghent (since 1964) and the Zwin Nature Park (since 2020), as well as historical data from studies near Antwerp and Ghent.
All data are being made available in standardized format through the SPI Birds platform. While our own database is fully integrated across all study areas and time periods in a common format, for external data users the database is subdivided into six datasets, each with extensive documentation added at the bottom of this page (in progress):
Boshoek study area (1994-Present)
Peerdsbos long-term study (1979-Present)
Peerdsbos historical study (1979-1994)
Ghent long-term study (1964-Present)
Ghent historical study (1959-1987)
Zwin study area (2020-Present)
While these study sites were initiated for other purposes (interspecific competition, dispersal, effects of habitat fragmentation) the accumulated data allow us to investigate long-term trends in population dynamics and changes in selection pressures.