Status of butterflies in the United States
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By John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
September 30, 2022
The pervasive nature of insect species’ declines has led to the specter of an “Insect Armageddon” in the popular press. Insect-derived ecosystem services are valued at > $57 billion in the U.S. and thus the loss of insects has the potential to fundamentally disrupt natural and economic systems.The causes of insect declines have been linked to changes in climate, land use and pesticide use, but there is little consensus on the relative importance of these drivers. There is even less consensus about which species are at most risk and about how to mitigate declines and recover populations. Systematic evaluations of trends across insect taxa in North America are needed as there are none based on systematic monitoring data. Our working group will use butterflies as a flagship taxonomic group to evaluate trends across species and identify potential environmental drivers of these trends. Butterflies are the perfect vehicle for this approach because are the best studied of all insect groups. We will integrate from multiple survey programs across the United States to estimate species and population-level trends, associate trends to butterfly traits, and determine impact of potential environmental drivers. Our results will provide critical insights into how to mitigate declines where they occur, as well as bring attention to the overall status of butterflies in North America.
Principal Investigator(s):
Cheryl Schultz (Washington State University)
Elizabeth Crone (Tufts University)
Wayne Thogmartin (USGS - Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center)
Principal Investigator(s):
Cheryl Schultz (Washington State University)
Elizabeth Crone (Tufts University)
Wayne Thogmartin (USGS - Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center)
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 62212f9ad34ee0c6b38b627d)
The pervasive nature of insect species’ declines has led to the specter of an “Insect Armageddon” in the popular press. Insect-derived ecosystem services are valued at > $57 billion in the U.S. and thus the loss of insects has the potential to fundamentally disrupt natural and economic systems.The causes of insect declines have been linked to changes in climate, land use and pesticide use, but there is little consensus on the relative importance of these drivers. There is even less consensus about which species are at most risk and about how to mitigate declines and recover populations. Systematic evaluations of trends across insect taxa in North America are needed as there are none based on systematic monitoring data. Our working group will use butterflies as a flagship taxonomic group to evaluate trends across species and identify potential environmental drivers of these trends. Butterflies are the perfect vehicle for this approach because are the best studied of all insect groups. We will integrate from multiple survey programs across the United States to estimate species and population-level trends, associate trends to butterfly traits, and determine impact of potential environmental drivers. Our results will provide critical insights into how to mitigate declines where they occur, as well as bring attention to the overall status of butterflies in North America.
Principal Investigator(s):
Cheryl Schultz (Washington State University)
Elizabeth Crone (Tufts University)
Wayne Thogmartin (USGS - Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center)
Principal Investigator(s):
Cheryl Schultz (Washington State University)
Elizabeth Crone (Tufts University)
Wayne Thogmartin (USGS - Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center)
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 62212f9ad34ee0c6b38b627d)