Abstract
While there are projects building comprehensive databases on changes in butterfly populations over time and space, there is still a need for building a rare butterfly database that can quickly be of value to land managers and decision-makers for whom long-term butterfly population data and trends are not yet available. The chapter provides a frame work for developing a database that can rapidly become useful for butterfly conservation efforts and decision-makers at different geographic scales and is based upon 6 years of developing a statewide rare butterfly database within Florida using citizen scientists. Topics covered include funding, staffing, long-term database support, recommendations for building an effective rare butterfly database, and organizational considerations in maximizing the effectiveness of project volunteers. The chapter relates each of these specific topics to the real-world experiences in developing Florida’s rare butterfly database and discusses the considerations, tradeoffs and rationale for the decisions that were made. This chapter is likely to be of special interest to zoo and museum directors starting up a butterfly conservation project, land managers, and government agencies.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Arnhold T (2009) Now butterflies are also being counted in China, Australia, and Israel. Public Release, 14 Aug 2009. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-08/haog-nba081409.php. Accessed 15 Sep 2014
Butterfly Conservation Europe (2014) Butterfly monitoring. http://www.bceurope.eu/index.php?id=339. Accessed 17 Sep 2014
Calhoun JV, Friedman MA, Slotten JR (2009) Elfin magic: a new Florida State butterfly record. S Lepidopterists News 31:1–2
Devictor V, Whittaker RJ, Beltrame C (2010) Beyond scarcity: citizen science programmes as useful tools for conservation biogeography. Divers Distrib 16:354–362
Lepidopterists’ Society (2014) Statement on collecting. http://www.lepsoc.org/statement_on_collecting.php. Accessed 10 Sep 2014
Lundstrom J (2014) Petition seeks to protect monarchs. http://www.xerces.org/2014/09/05/20431/. Accessed 22 Sep 2014
NatureServe (2014a) A network connecting science with conservation. http://www.natureserve.org. Accessed 14 May 2014
NatureServe (2014b) Conservation status assessment: identifying threatened species and ecosystems. http://www.natureserve.org/conservation-tools/conservation-status-assessment. Accessed 4 Sep 2014
NatureServe (2014c) NatureServe Explorer. An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington. http://explorer.natureserve.org. Accessed 4 Sep 2014
North American Butterfly Association (2014) Butterflies I’ve seen. http://www.nababis.org/home/Index. Accessed 2 Sep 2014
North American Butterfly Monitoring Network (2014) Welcome to NAB-NET. http://www.nab-net.org. Accessed 2 Sep 2014
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2014) Endangered species glossary. http://www.fws.gov/endangered/about/glossary.html. Accessed 4 Sep 2014
van Swaay CAM, Nowicki P, Settele J, van Strien AJ (2008) Butterfly monitoring in Europe: methods, applications, and perspectives. Biodivers Conserv 17:3455–3469
Acknowledgements
Funding was provided to FNAI for the statewide butterfly surveys by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The volunteers who served as regional coordinators for the grants were B. Berthet, B. and L. Cooper, B. DeWitt, A. Edwards, M.A. Friedman, S. Jue, S. Koi, K. Malone, E. Nuehring, and D. Stillwaugh. Professional lepidopterists who met with the coordinators group at the annual meetings in Gainesville were J. Calhoun, J. Daniels, and M. Minno. Without the dedication and involvement of all these participants the augmentation of the FNAI database with so many butterfly records would not have been possible.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jue, D. (2015). Developing a Rare Butterfly Database for Conservation Purposes: An Example in Florida Using Citizen Scientists. In: Daniels, J. (eds) Butterfly Conservation in North America. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9852-5_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9852-5_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9851-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9852-5
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)