Previously published in hardback and now made available in paperback,
this ground-breaking book is a must for all interested in butterflies,
whether as conservation biologist, amateur or professional entomologist
or as a student studying the phenomenon of butterfly populations as part
of a number of biology, ecology or conservation courses.
Recently, many British butterflies have suffered severe declines whole
others have flourished and expanded in range. This is the first book to
describe the results from a British scheme to monitor butterflies during
this period of change. The Monitoring Scheme, initiated in 1976 by the
senior author is based on frequent counts at some 90 sites throughout
Britain. The combined efforts of both amateurs and professionals have
thus produced a dataset with no equivalent elsewhere in the world. The
book therefore provides a unique perspective on trends in numbers,
extinction and foundation of populations; flight periods, local
distributions, migration and other aspects of population ecology.
Practical problems encountered during the conservation of butterflies of
individual sites are outlined. The relevance of this monitoring for an
understanding of the effects of the weather - climatic warming - is
described.