Identification

Title

United Kingdom Butterfly Monitoring Scheme: collated indices 2020

Abstract

Collated indices are a relative measure of butterfly abundance across sites monitored as part of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Data from all survey sites (standard UKBMS transects, Wider Countryside Survey transects and targeted species surveys such as timed, larval web and egg counts) are used in the calculation of these indices. The statistics are presented as log10 values. These values are centred round an arbitrary value of 2 as a mean for the time series in order to help show which years are below or above average. Collated indices are calculated annually for each individual butterfly species that has been recorded on five or more sites in that year. Indices are calculated at UK level and at individual country level for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland where sufficient data are available. Based on this criterion, collated indices have been calculated for the entire time series from 1976 (UK, England and Wales), 1979 (Scotland) and 2004 (Northern Ireland) to the current year for the majority of species, but for some rarer species this has not been possible in some years, particular those in the first part of the time series. Collated indices are calculated using a log-linear model incorporating individual site indices from all monitored sites across the UK or country for a given species in a given year. The number of sites for each species ranges from 5 to several hundred or more and fluctuates from year to year. By 2010 almost 2,000 sites were monitored in total across the UK, with this number rising to more than 3,000 over the next decade. Collated indices are calculated so that we can determine how butterfly populations are changing over time across the UK. This data can be used, for example, to determine where to target conservation efforts and more generally the condition of the UK countryside. Butterflies are recognised as important indicators of biodiversity and environmental change, for example in UK and country Biodiversity Indicators, and have been used in numerous studies of the impacts of climate and habitat change on biodiversity. The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme is organized and funded by Butterfly Conservation (BC), the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). The UKBMS is indebted to all volunteers who contribute data to the scheme. This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council award number NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCAPE programme delivering National Capability. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/f00fb86d-25c2-4f98-b882-c661511c93ac

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/data/f00fb86d-25c2-4f98-b882-c661511c93ac

name: Download the data

description: Download a copy of this data

function: download

https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/sd/f00fb86d-25c2-4f98-b882-c661511c93ac.zip

name: Supporting information

description: Supporting information available to assist in re-use of this dataset

function: information

Unique resource identifier

code

https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/f00fb86d-25c2-4f98-b882-c661511c93ac

codeSpace

doi:

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

biota

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Environmental Monitoring Facilities

originating controlled vocabulary

title

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-06-01

Keyword set

keyword value

Biodiversity

England

Northern Ireland

Scotland

UK-SCAPE

United Kingdom

Wales

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

-8.648

East bounding longitude

1.768

North bounding latitude

60.861

South bounding latitude

49.864

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

1976-04-01

End position

2020-09-30

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2022-02-04

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Collated indices are produced using a series of statistical models on butterfly transect counts recorded by a volunteer network. These indices are a relative measure of each species' abundance across the UK compared to the baseline in 1976. The statistics are presented as log10 values. These values are centred around an arbitrary value of 2 as a mean for the time series in order to help show which years are below or above average (a technique used in other biodiversity indicators).

Conformity

Conformity report

specification

title

Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2010-12-08

degree

explanation

Data format

name of format

Comma-separated values (CSV)

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Contains UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) data © copyright and database right Butterfly Conservation, the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, British Trust for Ornithology, and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

If you reuse this data, you should cite: Botham, M.S., Middlebrook, I., Harris, S., Harrower, C., Lowe, M., Roy, D.B. (2022). United Kingdom Butterfly Monitoring Scheme: collated indices 2020. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre https://doi.org/10.5285/f00fb86d-25c2-4f98-b882-c661511c93ac

publisher

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

organisation name

Environmental Information Data Centre

full postal address

Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg

Lancaster

LA1 4AP

email address

info@eidc.ac.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2022-12-01T10:48:41

Metadata language

eng