City butterfly census

[Doug Yanega]

>We would be interested in hearing from anyone that knows of a similiar
>project.  We would also welcome ideas on how we might use the data
>collected in this survey, which consists of ID's and relative abundance
>of butterflies, as well as a very thorough database of plants in the
>areas we census.

There has been some slightly similar work done with butterfly censuses in
Illinois (I'm ashamed that I cannot now summon the name of the person
responsible), but the most significant resource for your purposes would be
to acquire a copy of a book by Pollard & Yates which discusses the British
Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, an ongoing MASSIVE census project in the UK.
The book covers essentially every conceivable aspect of butterfly
censusing, from basic theory to implementation and analysis. I worked for
over a year trying to help develop some insect census/biomonitoring
programs in Illinois (since there were already good butterfly field guides,
I ultimately wrote and published one for NE Cerambycids), and found the
BBMS book to be absolutely indispensable.

Sincerely,

Doug Yanega    Depto. de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas,
Univ. Fed. de Minas Gerais, Cx.P. 486, 30.161-970 Belo Horizonte, MG   BRAZIL
phone: 031-448-1223, fax: 031-44-5481  (from U.S., prefix 011-55)
                  http://www.icb.ufmg.br/~dyanega/
  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82