Annual data from over 2,500 monitored sites tracks the timing and duration of butterfly flight periods for all UK species. The dataset includes first appearance, last appearance, peak abundance, and mean flight date, with separate data for generations of multi-voltine species. It is produced by the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, organized by Butterfly Conservation, UKCEH, BTO, and JNCC, with data contributed by volunteers.
Use Cases
- Modeling climate change impacts on insect phenology based on flight period timing metrics.
- Analyzing spatial and temporal trends in butterfly abundance peaks across the UK.
- Studying generational shifts in flight periods for multi-voltine butterfly species.
- Correlating temperature changes with biological event timing as a climate indicator.
Strengths
- Long-term temporal coverage from 1976 to the present year.
- Spatial scale of over 2,500 monitored sites across the UK.
- Includes separate phenology data for distinct generations of eleven multi-voltine species.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS), organized by Butterfly Conservation, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, British Trust for Ornithology, Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
- Collection Method
- Volunteer-collected monitoring data from standardized schemes at over 2,500 sites.
- Time Range
- 1976 to present
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-03-19 07:34:04.398676; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)