VBS
Overview
The
Vermont Butterfly Survey (VBS) is a 6 year (2002-2007) census
to document the relative abundance and distribution of butterflies
across Vermont. The results
will be published and available on the Internet. Field work will
rely heavily on volunteers. Participants need little experience
to join the survey - only an interest in butterflies. Documenting
the status of butterflies offers numerous benefits. The survey
will make essential data available to landowners, land-use planners,
municipalities, and other organizations making conservation and
management decisions. VBS will enhance our knowledge of distribution,
relative abundance, flight times and favored nectar sources of
Vermont's butterflies at the beginning of this century. The survey
will allow Vermonters to contribute to a greater understanding
of the nature of their state.
VBS Questions and Answers
Who
Can Participate?
Anyone with an interest in butterflies can contribute to the
survey. Familiarity with individual butterfly species is helpful
but not required. Survey staff offer free training sessions
to participants from time to time. Participation does require
careful and responsible record-keeping and the ability to read
a map or use a global positioning system (GPS) unit.
What are the Survey's Goals?
Butterflies are silent messengers of environmental health. Because
each species has specific food and habitat requirements, butterflies
can speak volumes about the state of the environment. Butterflies
are sensitive to pesticides, for example, and even global climate
change. Another survey goal is simply to learn which butterfly
species exist in Vermont. A final goal is allow Vermonters to
contribute to a greater understanding of the nature of their
state. Besides, watching butterflies is relaxing, enriching
and unadulterated fun.
What Areas of Vermont will be Surveyed?
The survey will accept butterfly sightings from anywhere in Vermont.
But in order to obtain a scientifically valid survey, the state
has been divided into 184 "priority blocks" - each roughly nine
square miles in area. These blocks are evenly distributed across
Vermont. Participants are encouraged to survey within priority
blocks. No Vermonter lives far from a priority block. Block
maps can be downloaded from this web site.
How do Participants Document Butterfly Presence?
The overriding objective is to obtain strong, defendable evidence
of the species of each butterfly encountered during the atlas.
The survey recognizes three ways to establish the presence of
a butterfly: 1) visual identification on the part of an observer
who is certain of the species; 2) an incontrovertible photograph
or video of the butterfly; 3) a voucher specimen collected according
to guidelines established for such scientific purposes by the
Lepidopterists' Society.
Cooperating Organizations
The Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS)
organizes and leads the Survey. Cooperating agencies and organizations
include:
Antioch
New England Graduate School
Green Mountain National Forest
The Nature Conservancy of Vermont
Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife
Vermont Entomological Society
Funding
is provided by the
Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife Wildlife Conservation
and Restoration Program, the Vermont Department of Fish
and Wildlife State Wildlife Grant, the William P. Wharton Trust,
the Windham Foundation, and the members and trustees of the
Vermont Institute of Natural Science.
Founding Steering Committee Members
Jon Atwood, Antioch New England Graduate School
Chip Darmstadt, North Branch Nature Center
Mark Ferguson, Nongame and Natural Heritage Program, Vermont
Department of Fish and Wildlife
Rachael Griggs, Vermont Entomological Society
Scott Griggs, Vermont Entomological Society
Clayton Grove, Green Mountain National Forest
James Hedbor, Vermont Entomological Society
Kent McFarland, Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Conservation
Biology Department
Donald H. Miller, Professor Emeritus of Zoology/Ecology,
Department of Sciences, Lyndon State College, Vermont
Rose Paul, The Nature Conservancy of Vermont
Bryan Pfeiffer, Vermont Bird Tours
Michael Sabourin, Vermont Entomological Society
Susan Sawyer
Jerry Schneider, Inventor, The Butterfly Game
Amy L. Seidl
About
the Survey
| Contact the Survey | Register
for the Survey | Download Survey Materials
VBS Events | Butterfly
Links | Survey
Maps | Newsletters | Volunteer
Photographs
Species
in the Spotlight | Giant Silkworm Moth
Survey
