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02 April 2004

Amateur naturalists track butterfly decline in Great Britain

An article in Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, describes the significant contributions of amateur naturalists who have tracked the decline of butterflies in Great Britain. According to the article (Naturalists' Surveys Show That British Butterflies are Going, Going ..., Science 303, 19 March 2004, p. 1747), annual surveys by amateur butterfly watchers of 2,861 10 km by 10 km squares have revealed that some 71 percent of butterfly species declined in at least one square.

According to the article, since 1970 some 20,000 volunteer amateur naturalists have participated in observations of birds, plants and butterflies in the 10 km by 10 km squares. Critics suggest that the observers may have used different observing techniques that could cause their data to be suspect. Others, however, have pointed out that amateur naturalists have a good record of making careful observations. The Science article quotes Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University, as saying, "All of Britain is surveyed by amateurs of a very high level of competence."

This important article about significant contributions of amateur naturalists was written by Elizabeth Pennisi, a news writer for Science. Pennisi has previously mentioned the positive contributions of amateur scientists and naturalists in various articles. Especially notable is her feature article about the significant contributions of amateur bird watchers in the United States in the premier issue of Science Probe! ("The Christmas Bird Count, pp. 40-46, November 1990). Forrest M. Mims III