Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Edwards, Collin B.; Zipkin, Elise F.; Henry, Erica H.; Haddad, Nick M.; Forister, Matthew L.; Burls, Kevin J.; Campbell, Steven P.; Crone, Elizabeth E.; Diffendorfer, Jay; Douglas, Margaret R.; Drum, Ryan G.; Fallon, Candace E.; Glassberg, Jeffrey; Grames, Eliza M.; Hatfield, Rich; Hershcovich, Shiran; Hoffman Black, Scott; Larsen, Elise A.; Leuenberger, Wendy; Linders, Mary J.; Longcore, Travis; Marschalek, Daniel A.; Michielini, James; Neupane, Naresh; Ries, Leslie; Shapiro, Arthur M.; Swengel, Ann B.; Swengel, Scott R.; Taron, Douglas J.; Van Deynze, Braeden; Wiedmann, Jerome; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Schultz, Cheryl B.
• 署名单位: Washington State University; Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW); Michigan State University; Michigan State University; Michigan State University; Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE); University of Nevada Reno; University of California System; University of California Davis; United States Department of the Interior; United States Geological Survey; Dickinson College; United States Department of the Interior; US Fish & Wildlife Service; Rice University; State University of New York (SUNY) System; Binghamton University, SUNY; Georgetown University; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; University Central Missouri; University of California System; University of California Davis; United States Department of the Interior; United States Geological Survey
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-9741
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adp4671
• 发表日期: 2025-03-07
• 页码: 1090-1094
• 关键词: insect; CONSERVATION; CHALLENGES; scientists; time

摘要

Numerous declines have been documented across insect groups, and the potential consequences of insect losses are dire. Butterflies are the most surveyed insect taxa, yet analyses have been limited in geographic scale or rely on data from a single monitoring program. Using records of 12.6 million individual butterflies from >76,000 surveys across 35 monitoring programs, we characterized overall and species-specific butterfly abundance trends across the contiguous United States. Between 2000 and 2020, total butterfly abundance fell by 22% across the 554 recorded species. Species-level declines were widespread, with 13 times as many species declining as increasing. The prevalence of declines throughout all regions in the United States highlights an urgent need to protect butterflies from further losses.