Unrecorded Butterfly Species and Potential Local Extinctions: The Role of Citizen Science and Sampling
ABSTRACT Estimating species extinction risk is crucial to reverse biodiversity loss and to adopt proper conservation measures. Different sources may play a pivotal role in prioritising species conservation. Recently, citizen science demonstrated a substantial role, especially when it comes to butter...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71023 |
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| author | S. Alberti A. Pollo C. Cerrato R. Viterbi E. Balletto L. Dapporto S. Bonelli I. Piccini |
| author_facet | S. Alberti A. Pollo C. Cerrato R. Viterbi E. Balletto L. Dapporto S. Bonelli I. Piccini |
| author_sort | S. Alberti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Estimating species extinction risk is crucial to reverse biodiversity loss and to adopt proper conservation measures. Different sources may play a pivotal role in prioritising species conservation. Recently, citizen science demonstrated a substantial role, especially when it comes to butterflies. This study examines species records and richness in Aosta Valley, which represents one of the highest mountain areas in Europe. Through 30,351 data points from 1825 to 2022, the impact and efficiency of three groups of data sources were investigated: literature (i.e., publications and collections), sampling (butterfly experts' recording), and citizen science (open‐source databases). The study also aims to assess the extinction potential of the butterflies in relation to functional traits. The results showed that even if there were significant differences in the number of records between the three sources, there were no significant differences for species recorded. Moreover, 2.9% of the butterfly community risks extinction, and it is related to some response traits. Indeed, extinction risks increase when the altitudinal range decreases and for multivoltines. In conclusion, citizen science has a strong impact on the amount of data and could be exploited to fill data gaps at low/medium altitudes. However, professional sampling is needed to focus on species no longer reported, and in particular on species that are difficult to identify, have specific distributions or particular traits (e.g., limited altitudinal range). Using different data sources, extinction risk estimation, and trait analysis, it is possible to prioritise studies on some species using different efforts (sampling and/or citizen sciences). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e02947f0aac449cc9fb81dadc36cfb9e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-e02947f0aac449cc9fb81dadc36cfb9e2025-08-20T03:26:04ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-02-01152n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71023Unrecorded Butterfly Species and Potential Local Extinctions: The Role of Citizen Science and SamplingS. Alberti0A. Pollo1C. Cerrato2R. Viterbi3E. Balletto4L. Dapporto5S. Bonelli6I. Piccini7Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology University of Turin Turin ItalyDepartment of Life Sciences and Systems Biology University of Turin Turin ItalyDepartment of Life Sciences and Systems Biology University of Turin Turin ItalyGran Paradiso National Park Turin ItalyDepartment of Life Sciences and Systems Biology University of Turin Turin ItalyDepartment of Biology University of Florence Florence ItalyDepartment of Life Sciences and Systems Biology University of Turin Turin ItalyDepartment of Life Sciences and Systems Biology University of Turin Turin ItalyABSTRACT Estimating species extinction risk is crucial to reverse biodiversity loss and to adopt proper conservation measures. Different sources may play a pivotal role in prioritising species conservation. Recently, citizen science demonstrated a substantial role, especially when it comes to butterflies. This study examines species records and richness in Aosta Valley, which represents one of the highest mountain areas in Europe. Through 30,351 data points from 1825 to 2022, the impact and efficiency of three groups of data sources were investigated: literature (i.e., publications and collections), sampling (butterfly experts' recording), and citizen science (open‐source databases). The study also aims to assess the extinction potential of the butterflies in relation to functional traits. The results showed that even if there were significant differences in the number of records between the three sources, there were no significant differences for species recorded. Moreover, 2.9% of the butterfly community risks extinction, and it is related to some response traits. Indeed, extinction risks increase when the altitudinal range decreases and for multivoltines. In conclusion, citizen science has a strong impact on the amount of data and could be exploited to fill data gaps at low/medium altitudes. However, professional sampling is needed to focus on species no longer reported, and in particular on species that are difficult to identify, have specific distributions or particular traits (e.g., limited altitudinal range). Using different data sources, extinction risk estimation, and trait analysis, it is possible to prioritise studies on some species using different efforts (sampling and/or citizen sciences).https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71023altitudecitizen scienceconservationecological traits; historical dataparkstemporal distribution |
| spellingShingle | S. Alberti A. Pollo C. Cerrato R. Viterbi E. Balletto L. Dapporto S. Bonelli I. Piccini Unrecorded Butterfly Species and Potential Local Extinctions: The Role of Citizen Science and Sampling Ecology and Evolution altitude citizen science conservation ecological traits; historical data parks temporal distribution |
| title | Unrecorded Butterfly Species and Potential Local Extinctions: The Role of Citizen Science and Sampling |
| title_full | Unrecorded Butterfly Species and Potential Local Extinctions: The Role of Citizen Science and Sampling |
| title_fullStr | Unrecorded Butterfly Species and Potential Local Extinctions: The Role of Citizen Science and Sampling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unrecorded Butterfly Species and Potential Local Extinctions: The Role of Citizen Science and Sampling |
| title_short | Unrecorded Butterfly Species and Potential Local Extinctions: The Role of Citizen Science and Sampling |
| title_sort | unrecorded butterfly species and potential local extinctions the role of citizen science and sampling |
| topic | altitude citizen science conservation ecological traits; historical data parks temporal distribution |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71023 |
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