Twenty years (2000–2020) of butterfly monitoring data across the contiguous United States
- Erica H. Henry
- Collin B. Edwards
- Vaughn Shirey
- Jeffrey S. Pippen
- Dave Waetjen
- Matthew L. Forister
- Elise A. Larsen
- Cheryl B. Schultz
- James Michielini
- Nathan Brockman
- Kevin J. Burls
- Ryan G. Drum
- Martha Gatch
- Jeffrey Glassberg
- Nancy V. Hamlett
- Shiran Hershcovich
- Catherine Le
- Steve McGaffin
- Jen Meilinger
- Lisa Richter
- Regina Rochefort
- Charles Schelz
- Arthur M. Shapiro
- Kathryn Sullivan
- Doug J. Taron
- Wayne E. Thogmartin
- Anna Walker
- Anita Westphal
- Jerome Wiedmann
- Irmgard U. Wilcockson
- Jennifer Zaspel
- Leslie Ries
2025-11-22
We present the most comprehensive, integrated, butterfly monitoring dataset ever assembled for the United States. It contains over 1.2 million count records, from 65,000 surveys, representing over 12.6 million individual butterflies. To compile this dataset, we integrated data and harmonized taxonomy across 19 butterfly monitoring programs in the United States – one national, 13 statewide, and 5 local (e.g. individual county or National Park) in scale. In addition to the data, we also provide the taxonomic dictionary used to crosswalk butterfly taxonomy across programs, and the code used to assemble the integrated dataset. The publication of this dataset will inspire new analyses of butterfly population trends and drivers that help to identify solutions to the biodiversity crisis.