π Quick Dive: The Butterfly Effect
What did the state of the UK's Butterfly Count look like in 2020
As Spring begins and the final season of the shit show that is Covid draws to a close, my thoughts have turned to BBQs, weekends away, travelling and just generally being outdoors again in the countryside. With this in mind I was reminded of the UK Big Butterfly Count that runs annually and curious about what people clocked last year, above is what the 2020 count looked like in the UK, in thousands.
Butterflies and Moths are valuable indicators of the health of an eco-system, used frequently in modelling studies to assess the impact of habitat loss and climate change. According to Butterfly Conservation, although there was a 25% increase in Butterfly watchers there was actually a fall in average Butterfly numbers per count with some individual species seeing decreases of up to -40% from 2019.
As they note in their report, βAn unusually warm spring led many species to emerge earlier than usual. So we may have only caught the tail-end of the flight period for many species during this yearβs Big Butterfly Countβ.
This, coupled with the fact that 2019 saw a natural phenomenon that brought swarms of Painted Ladies from warming climates to our shores resulting in over 420,000 sightings before returning to normal levels - makes the 2020 count look rather subdued in comparison.
Despite the lockdowns in 2020 it seems the Big Butterfly Count had its most popular year with counters, hopefully this year as lockdown eases (touch wood) weβll see an even larger renewed interest in the count to help better document the UKβs environment and its impact on our wildlife.
You can check out the full report here in the meantime and you can purchase a print of the Butterfly Count 2020 from the store, where as a Paid Subscriber you can receive a 25% discount from all purchases.