Modelling butterfly abundance at varying spatial scales to inform conservation delivery

Three-quarters of UK butterfly species have declined over the past four decades. Butterflies respond quickly to habitat and climatic change, hence their population status is a valuable biodiversity indicator. Analysis of long-term butterfly monitoring datasets has provided some ofthe world's best evidence of the biological impacts of climate change, including major phenological and distribution shifts, evolutionary responses and the impacts of extreme events.

Population trends are primarily assessed at national scales. This project will undertake more detailed analysis across spatial scales (e.g across regions, specific habitats or individual sites) to identify butterfly population responses to major drivers of change. As well as delivering high impact scientific insight, this will underpin more effective conservation, from local land management to strategic planning across regions, including the production of new biodiversity indicators and site level alerts.

National-scale butterfly monitoring will be enhanced by refining survey guidance for threatened species, improving knowledge of butterfly lifespans and furthering methods for assessing species threatened status.

The project will involve new statistical model developments and incorporation of high-resolution land-cover data. The student will combine multiple complex ecological datasets and will produce new population metrics, accounting for the influence of external factors such as weather.