Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network

The Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network engages citizen scientists in the process of collecting quantitative data on butterfly populations. Their goal is to provide data collected with a standardized protocol that allows land managers to evaluate long-term trends in a changing landscape. The Network also offers opportunities for fellowship, mentorship, and continuing education between citizen scientists and professional biologists.

Monitoring Activity Tracker

Snapshot

Coordinator: Taron, Doug
Program Started: 1987
Institutional Affiliation: Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Institution Type: Museum
Species Focus: All butterfly species
Program website
Contact URL: https://ibmn.org/one-page-express/contact-us/

Protocol

Protocol Type: Restricted search, Pollard
Data Type(s): Abundance
Survey Focus: Adults
Incidental Data Collected: Weather, Habitat notes
Effort Tracking: Time spent monitoring each route is recorded.
Protocol Notes: A typical pollard protocol but with detections allowed up to 20 ft (~9m) on either side and in front of observer. Route length varies and contains multiple sections divided by habitat. Volunteers must complete at least 6 visits between Jun1 and Aug 7, but higher frequencies and visits outside these dates are encouraged. All butterflies observed during each survey are recorded.

Program Results

Publications:

Kucherov, NB, ES Minor, PP Johnson, D Taron, and KC Matteson. 2021. Butterfly declines in protected areas of Illinois: Assessing the influence of two decades of climate and landscape change. PloS one, 16(10), e0257889

Saunders, S.P., L. Ries, K.S. Oberhauser, and E.F. Zipkin. 2016. Evaluating confidence in population-level predictions from climate impacts: Summer abundances of the monarch butterfly. Global Ecology and Biogeography

Ries, L., Taron, D.J., Rendon-Salinas, E.  2015. The Disconnect Between Summer and Winter Monarch Trends for the Eastern Migratory Population: Possible Links to Differing Drivers. Annals of the Entomological Society.

Matteson, K.C., D.J. Taron, E.S. Minor. 2012. Assessing citizen contributions to butterfly monitoring in two large cities. Cons. Biol. 26:557-564.

Ries, L., K. Oberhauser, D. Taron, E. Rendon-Salinas. 2015. Connecting eastern monarch population dynamics across their migratory cycle. In (K. Oberhauser, ed.) Monarchs in a changing world: Biology and conservation of an iconic insect. Cornell University Press. Ithaca, NY.