Butterfly monitoring, as part of the wider UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS), is included in the LTMN project because butterflies are a good indicator of climate change. Generalist butterfly species can adapt more easily than specialists that can become isolated as their preferred habitats become fragmented, reducing their ability to adapt to climate change.
The methodology used for this protocol can be found on the UKBMS website, under Standard Survey Methods, Traditional Transects (Pollard Walks).
This page is part of Natural England’s Long Term Monitoring Network. To find out about the sites within the LTMN project please see the individual Core sites data pages.
Each year we request data for our LTMN sites, for the UKBMS transect(s) present on or nearby our sites, from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) who manage the UKBMS database. Out of 37 LTMN sites, 32 have one or more UKBMS transects associated with them.
Previously we have published such data on the individual LTMN sites pages. This time, we are publishing recently obtained data en bloc, as five spreadsheets:
1. UKBMS transects on LTMN sites, October 2023
A list of LTMN sites with UKBMS transects present on or nearby, with details such as map grid references, start and latest recording year etc.
2. LTMN sites – visit data
For each UKBMS transect, dates and times of recording visits.
3. LTMN sites – site indices
For each species, by UKBMS transect and year, an abundance index. These are calculated by UK CEH, using a model that predicts and takes account of any missing count values. For further information see the UK CEH Environmental Information Data Centre: https://doi.org/10.5285/1286b858-34a7-4ff2-84a1-a55e48d63e86
4. LTMN sites – weekly count data
For each species, by UKBMS transect and week, a total count.
5. LTMN sites – raw count data
For each species, by UKBMS transect, visit and transect section, a count.
Data ownership and correct acknowledgment of data providers:
Surveyors retain the ownership of the records they submit to the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS). The UKBMS Partners (Butterfly Conservation, UK CEH, BTO and JNCC) retain copyright and database rights in datasets compiled from those records. Compiled data are shared under Open Government Licence and it is your responsibility to abide by the licence conditions. One of these conditions is that you must acknowledge the source of the information in your product or application by including or linking to the following attribution statement: ‘Contains UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) data © copyright and database right. Butterfly Conservation, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, British Trust for Ornithology, and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, [insert year of dataset publication]’.