2025-03-06 ワシントン州立大学 (WSU)
The Oregon silverspot butterfly. (Photo by Cheryl Schultz, Washington State University)
<関連情報>
- https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2025/03/06/u-s-butterfly-populations-are-severely-declining/
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp4671
21世紀におけるアメリカ全土でのチョウの急激な減少 Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century
Collin B. Edwards, Elise F. Zipkin, Erica H. Henry, Nick M. Haddad, […], and Cheryl B. Schultz
Science Published:6 Mar 2025
Editor’s summary
Reports of declining insect populations have received widespread media attention, but evidence for declines has been variable across regions and taxonomic groups. Edwards et al. examined trends in the most surveyed taxon: butterflies (see the Perspective by Inouye). Combining data from 35 citizen science programs across the continental US, the authors found declines in overall butterfly abundance over the past 20 years across almost all major regions. Two-thirds of studied species showed declines of more than 10%. Many insects have the potential for rapid population growth and recovery, but habitat restoration, species-specific interventions, and reducing pesticide use are all likely needed to curb population declines. —Bianca Lopez
Abstract
Numerous declines have been documented across insect groups, and the potential consequences of insect losses are dire. Butterflies are the most surveyed insect taxa, yet analyses have been limited in geographic scale or rely on data from a single monitoring program. Using records of 12.6 million individual butterflies from >76,000 surveys across 35 monitoring programs, we characterized overall and species-specific butterfly abundance trends across the contiguous United States. Between 2000 and 2020, total butterfly abundance fell by 22% across the 554 recorded species. Species-level declines were widespread, with 13 times as many species declining as increasing. The prevalence of declines throughout all regions in the United States highlights an urgent need to protect butterflies from further losses.
