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The European Butterfly Indicator for Grassland species: 1990-2015

van Swaay, Chris A.M. ; Van Strien, Arco ; Aghababyan, Karen ; Åström, Sandra ; Botham, Marc ; Brereton, Tom ; Carlisle, Bruce ; Paul, Chambers ; Collins, S. and Dopagne, Claude , et al. (2016)
Abstract
This report presents the sixth version of the European Grassland Butterfly Indicator, one of the EU biodiversity indicators of the European Environment Agency.

The indicator is based on more than 9200 transects in national Butterfly Monitoring Schemes covering 22 countries across Europe, most of them active in the European Union. In 2015, counts were made in more than 4500 transects.

Butterflies represent the largest animal group (insects), highly included in food webs, having a high impact on ecosystem services and stability. This report does not represent only the patrimonial conservation of some species, but indicates the changes in biodiversity on grasslands and discusses underlying causes.

Fluctuations in... (More)
This report presents the sixth version of the European Grassland Butterfly Indicator, one of the EU biodiversity indicators of the European Environment Agency.

The indicator is based on more than 9200 transects in national Butterfly Monitoring Schemes covering 22 countries across Europe, most of them active in the European Union. In 2015, counts were made in more than 4500 transects.

Butterflies represent the largest animal group (insects), highly included in food webs, having a high impact on ecosystem services and stability. This report does not represent only the patrimonial conservation of some species, but indicates the changes in biodiversity on grasslands and discusses underlying causes.

Fluctuations in numbers between years are typical features of butterfly populations. The assessment of change is
therefore made on an analysis of the underlying trend.

Indicators were produced on EU, European (EU plus Norway and Switzerland) and pan-European level (including Ukraine, Russia and Armenia).

The underlying analysis of the indicator shows that since 1990, grassland butterfly abundance has declined by 30%.

The rate of loss has slowed in the last 5-10 years. Part of this slowing down might be caused by climate warming, as this favours cold-blooded animals like butterflies, thus masking the effects of intensification. In parts of Western Europe butterfly numbers outside nature reserves have come to an absolute minimum, meaning it is unlikely for the indicator to further drop.

The priority now is to halt further losses and support recovery. This can only come about with greater protection and more sustainable management of semi-natural grassland. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Book/Report
publication status
published
subject
pages
42 pages
publisher
De Vlinderstichting
report number
VS2016.019
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bb3f778b-32ee-452c-9ac4-d42706ec5b1c
alternative location
https://assets.vlinderstichting.nl/docs/93d67587-0a55-40f6-8cb0-050034e811b2.pdf
date added to LUP
2019-06-30 22:37:17
date last changed
2021-03-23 21:36:49
@techreport{bb3f778b-32ee-452c-9ac4-d42706ec5b1c,
  abstract     = {{This report presents the sixth version of the European Grassland Butterfly Indicator, one of the EU biodiversity indicators of the European Environment Agency.<br/><br/>The indicator is based on more than 9200 transects in national Butterfly Monitoring Schemes covering 22 countries across Europe, most of them active in the European Union. In 2015, counts were made in more than 4500 transects.<br/><br/>Butterflies represent the largest animal group (insects), highly included in food webs, having a high impact on ecosystem services and stability. This report does not represent only the patrimonial conservation of some species, but indicates the changes in biodiversity on grasslands and discusses underlying causes.<br/><br/>Fluctuations in numbers between years are typical features of butterfly populations. The assessment of change is<br/>therefore made on an analysis of the underlying trend.<br/><br/>Indicators were produced on EU, European (EU plus Norway and Switzerland) and pan-European level (including Ukraine, Russia and Armenia).<br/><br/>The underlying analysis of the indicator shows that since 1990, grassland butterfly abundance has declined by 30%.<br/><br/>The rate of loss has slowed in the last 5-10 years. Part of this slowing down might be caused by climate warming, as this favours cold-blooded animals like butterflies, thus masking the effects of intensification. In parts of Western Europe butterfly numbers outside nature reserves have come to an absolute minimum, meaning it is unlikely for the indicator to further drop.<br/><br/>The priority now is to halt further losses and support recovery. This can only come about with greater protection and more sustainable management of semi-natural grassland.}},
  author       = {{van Swaay, Chris A.M. and Van Strien, Arco and Aghababyan, Karen and Åström, Sandra and Botham, Marc and Brereton, Tom and Carlisle, Bruce and Paul, Chambers and Collins, S. and Dopagne, Claude and Escobés, Ruth and Feldmann, Reinart and Fernández-García, José María and Fontaine, Benoît and Goloshchapova, Svetlana and Gracianteparaluceta, Ana and Harpke, Alexander and Heliölä, Janne and Khanamirian, Gurgen and Komac, Benjamin and Kühn, Elisabeth and Lang, Andreas and Leopold, Patrick and Maes, Dirk and Mestdagh, Xavier and Monasterio-León, Yeray and Munguira, Miguel L and Murray, Tomás and Musche, Martin and Õunap, Erki and Pettersson, Lars and Piqueray, Julien and Popoff, Serhiy and Prokofev, Igor and Roth, Tobias and Roy, David and Schmucki, Reto and Settele, Josef and Stefanescu, Constanti and Švitra, Giedrius and Marques Teixeira, Sérgio and Tiitsaar, Anu and Verovnik, Rudi and Warren, Martin S.}},
  institution  = {{De Vlinderstichting}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{VS2016.019}},
  title        = {{The European Butterfly Indicator for Grassland species: 1990-2015}},
  url          = {{https://assets.vlinderstichting.nl/docs/93d67587-0a55-40f6-8cb0-050034e811b2.pdf}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}