United Kingdom Butterfly Monitoring Scheme: species trends 2015

This dataset provides linear trends, over varying time periods, for the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) Collated Indices of individual butterfly species across the UK. The main statistical values derived from a linear regression (slope, standard error, P-value) are presented for the entire time series for each species (1976 to 2015), for the last 20 years, and for the last decade. In addition a trend class, based on slope direction and its significance, and a percentage change for that time period are provided to describe the statistical trends. These trend data are provided for 59 UK butterfly species. Trends across different time series allow us to determine the long and short-term trends for individual species. This enables us to focus conservation and research and also to assess species responses to conservation already in place. The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) and Butterfly Conservation (BC) are responsible for the calculation and interpretation of this trend datasets. The collection of the underlying UKBMS data is reliant on a large volunteer community. The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme is funded by a consortium of organisations led by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).