U.S. butterflies face declines

Butterflies throughout the United States have declined 22% between the years 2000 and 2020. In a new study, researchers brought together butterfly monitoring data from 35 different citizen science programs. This included records of over 12.6 million butterflies across the continental U.S. Using this data, the researchers determined butterfly abundance for 342 species. Each year, they found, butterfly abundance decreased by about 1.3% throughout the country. Butterflies in the southwest faced the most severe declines. Of the species the team studied, 100 declined by more than half. “Our national-scale findings paint the most complete—and concerning—picture of the status of butterflies across the country in the early 21^st century,” the authors wrote. But the authors said that with conservation strategies, populations can become more sustainable.

Read the study in Science.