Vienna/Dornbirn (OTS) – Small fox, small cabbage white butterfly and large oxeye – these are the most widespread butterfly species in Vorarlberg. Since 2020, researchers from the University of Innsbruck and volunteers have been counting butterflies in Vorarlberg. In the last four years, over 11,000 butterflies have been counted and identified. The monitoring is carried out under the scientific direction of the Institute for Ecology at the University of Innsbruck, by the inatura Erlebnis Naturschau Dornbirn, the Tyrolean State Museums, the BILLA Foundation Blooming Austria and the Environmental and Climate Protection Department of the State of Vorarlberg.
Butterflies are not only beautiful to look at, they are also of particular ecological importance. That is why they have been systematically observed in Vorarlberg since 2020 as part of the multi-butterfly butterfly monitoring. In 2023, the fourth year of surveys in the multi-butterfly butterfly monitoring was completed, thus ending the first survey cycle, in which a total of 100 survey areas throughout Vorarlberg were recorded. In four surveys at each of these 100 locations, the biologists involved took a close look at the butterfly populations in Vorarlberg. All open habitats were represented, from intensively used valley meadows to protected wetlands and alpine grasslands. 8,000 butterflies in 108 species – which corresponds to 68% of the species found in Vorarlberg – were documented. The researchers were supported by volunteer surveyors who counted countless other butterflies in over 600 surveys and thereby made an important contribution to monitoring.
Ronald Wüflinger, Secretary General of Blühendes Österreich, is pleased about the commitment of the volunteers: “Viel-Falter has led to the enthusiasm of hundreds of people – citizen scientists – about biodiversity, nature conservation and butterflies in particular. The first four years of frequent butterfly monitoring in Vorarlberg are a success story that laid the basis for follow-up activities.
“
Getting as many people as possible excited about biological diversity and increasing awareness of its importance is a central concern of multi-butterfly monitoring. “Butterflies are particularly suitable as ambassadors for insect diversity, as has been shown time and again in lectures, workshops and excursions
“, explains Ruth Swoboda, director of inatura. “Inatura, as a passionate provider of natural knowledge, is proud to have been part of this initiative from the very beginning.
“
Biodiversity monitoring does not focus on particularly rare species. Butterfly monitoring is particularly about observing the population development of common and widespread species such as the lesser tortoiseshell or the greater oxeye. These common species are of particularly great ecological importance. “Butterflies and other insects are essential for healthy ecosystems. From pollinating flowering plants to providing food for birds, reptiles, bats and other small mammals, they fulfill a variety of important ecological functions
“, explains Johannes Rüdisser, head of multi-butterfly monitoring and biodiversity researcher at the University of Innsbruck. “At the same time, they are excellent biodiversity indicators – i.e. they provide information about the condition of a habitat.
“
Rare and endangered species were also observed. Six species should be highlighted here that are protected throughout Europe and whose preservation is therefore particularly important in Vorarlberg: Golden fritillary, red and black Apollo and three representatives of the ant blues (black-spotted ant blue, light meadow button ant blue and dark meadow button blue). Data on these and many other species represent an important contribution to the Red List of Butterflies in Vorarlberg, which will be updated in 2022. “Unfortunately, many butterflies in Vorarlberg are threatened in their existence for a variety of reasons. Effective monitoring is therefore the indispensable basis for recognizing trends in the development of species and, based on this, developing targeted protective measures for their preservation
“, emphasizes State Councilor Daniel Zadra, nature conservation officer for the state of Vorarlberg. “An initiative in which experts and interested volunteers carry out scientifically based monitoring hand in hand is a particularly stroke of luck.”
The surveys of the last four years have created the basis for the long-term observation of butterflies in Vorarlberg – and a showcase project for biodiversity monitoring of European importance, showing how species can be documented in collaboration between scientists and volunteers in order to protect them in the long term .
Since insect populations are subject to strong natural fluctuations in the short term, monitoring over several years to decades is particularly important in order to be able to derive trends and determine changes. In 2024, butterfly enthusiasts will be out and about in Vorarlberg’s meadows again to collect data for the next survey cycle.
Further information at www.viel-falter.at
Questions & Contact:
Dr. Johannes Rüdisser
Institute of Ecology
University of Innsbruck
Tel.: +43 512 507-51617
Email: johannes.ruedisser@uibk.ac.at
Dipl.-Biol. Anette Herburger
Research team leader
E-Mail: anette.herburger@inatura.at
+43(0)5572 / 23235-4755
+43 676 833 06 4755