The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS)
Welcome to the United Kingdom Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS), a merger of the long-running Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (BMS) with Butterfly
Conservation's co-ordination of 'independent' transects. The scheme now records data on over 1,000 sites annually and also
incorporates the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS). The resulting UKBMS dataset
is one of the most important resources for understanding changes in insect populations...
[more]
The scheme has monitored changes in the abundance of butterflies throughout the United Kingdom since 1976. Since then, recorders have made around a quarter of a million weekly visits to more than 1,500 separate sites, walking over half a million kilometres and counting over 16.4 million butterflies!
The UKBMS is based on a well-established and enjoyable recording
method and has produced important insights into almost all aspects
of butterfly ecology.
A new publication, "The State of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland",
was launched on May 15th. This book is a follow-up to the hugely successful Butterflies for the New Millenium atlas, and is available
to purchase from the publishers, Nature Bureau (price: £14.50 inc. p&p)