RankingWesternButterflies.csv

This dataset includes variables used in the prioritization for conservation of 396 species of butterflies from the 11 states of the western US. Specifically, seven variables (described below) were combined as a weighted sum to generate a risk index for each species (also included below); this was done separately for two groups (A and B) which differ in various ways including the amount of information available from monitoring programs. <br> Columns in the dataset are as follows: <br> 1) sp. The taxonomic name of the butterfly. Noted with each name is a regional designation (N, S, E, W) indicating where the bulk of the geographic range lies relative to the western US (i.e., mostly north, south, east, or west; with the eastern designation including species with transcontinental ranges). <br> 2) NABA. The values in this column are probabilities of population persistence at 50 years into the future, based on simulations using population growth rates generated from analysis of census data from the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) count program. <br> 3) Shapiro. Year coefficients from binomial regression models of butterfly census data from Art Shapiro’s Northern California (USA) monitoring program. <br> 4) Area. Areal extent of range, in square kilometers <br> 5) Dev. Proportion of the geographic range that includes development (urban and suburban) or agricultural lands. <br> 6) Departure. A unitless, multivariate index of climate change measured as departure from a historical baseline, calculated from across the geographic range of a species (see methods in associated citation for more details). <br> 7) PPT. Average, range-wide, annual precipitation (mm). <br> 8) FracUni. Fraction of geographic range that is univoltine (one generation per year). <br> 9) Size. Wingspan, in cm. <br> 10) HostRange. A taxonomic index of host range (or diet breadth) calculated as the number of host families plus the natural log of the number of host genera. <br> 11) Group. Identifies species as belonging to the A or B group (see associated citation for more details). <br> 12) Risk. Risk index: a relative measure, with higher values indicating species most deserving of conservation attention. <br>