MESTDAGH Xavier
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TITEUX Nicolas
Send an emailLuxembourg Butterfly Monitoring Scheme
Butterflies are among the most well-studied insect groups and are widely recognized as sensitive indicators of environmental change. Their populations respond rapidly to habitat loss, climate change, and agricultural intensification, making them valuable proxies for assessing ecosystem health.
Across Europe, long-term butterfly monitoring has revealed significant declines in many species, highlighting the urgent need for systematic and comparable data to support conservation efforts. This need is reflected in major initiatives such as the European Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (eBMS), which promotes standardized monitoring and data integration across countries.
The Luxembourg Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (LUBMS) was initiated in 2010 to address the lack of consistent long-term data on butterfly populations. Financially supported by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity (MECB), it was established as part of a broader national effort to better understand biodiversity trends and to support environmental policies with robust, field-based evidence. With the Wild Pollinator Monitoring Programme Luxembourg (MONIPOL), LUBMS is part of the Luxembourg Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (LUPoMS) coordinated by LIST.
LUBMS is a long-term, standardized monitoring programme designed to track butterfly populations across Luxembourg in a consistent and comparable manner.
The scheme is based on fixed-route transect surveys, where trained observers count butterflies along predefined paths at regular intervals throughout the flight season. This method follows internationally established protocols used across Europe (eBMS). This alignment ensures that data collected in Luxembourg can be integrated into broader European analyses and indicators, while maintaining high standards of methodological consistency.
The programme uses a stratified sampling design to capture a representative range of Luxembourg’s environmental conditions. Surveys are conducted at systematically selected locations distributed across the country, combining professional expertise with the contribution of trained citizen scientists.
Since its establishment, LUBMS has generated a unique and continuously growing time series of butterfly observations across Luxembourg. These data provide critical insights into species distributions, population trends, and habitat associations.
Scientifically, the programme enables the analysis of long-term ecological changes and supports the development of biodiversity indicators. Butterfly data are particularly valuable as they are sensitive to environmental pressures, allowing early detection of ecosystem changes and contributing to a better understanding of climate and land-use impacts.
At the policy level, LUBMS contributes to national biodiversity assessments and supports Luxembourg’s obligations under European conservation frameworks, such as the recent Nature Restoration Regulation. The data also feed into international indicators, such as the Global Butterfly Index or the Grassland Butterfly Index in Europe, formally endorsed by the European Environment Agency as a key indicator for assessing ecosystem health and the impacts of land-use change.
The scheme also plays an important role in fostering collaboration between researchers, institutions, and citizen scientists. By engaging trained volunteers in standardized monitoring activities, it strengthens public awareness of biodiversity issues and builds a community actively involved in biodiversity recording.
EU Grassland Butterfly Index 1991-2023 Technical report
<p>Chris A.M. Van Swaay, Reto Schmucki, David B. Roy, Emily B. Dennis, Sue Collins, Richard Fox, Zdravko D. Kolev, Cristina G. Sevilleja, Martin S. Warren, Aidan Whitfield, Irma Wynhoff, Harriet J.H. Arnberg, Maksims Balalaikins, José M. Barea-Azcón, Andreas M.B. Boe, Simona Bonelli, Marc S. Botham, Nigel A.D. Bourn, Juan P. Cancela, Roger Caritg, Leonardo Dapporto, André Ducry, Goran Dušej, Mathieu de Flores, Claude Dopagne, Ruth Escobés, Anne E. Eskildsen, Zdenek F. Fric, José M. Fernández-García, Benoît Fontaine, Primož Glogovčan, Jostein Gohli, Ana Gracianteparaluceta, Andrea Grill, Alexandre Harpke, Colin Harrower, Janne K. Heliölä, Toke T. Høye, Michelle Judge, Vassiliki Kati, Harald W. Krenn, Elizabeth Kühn, Mikko Kuussaari, Andreas Lang, Daniela Lehner, Liam Lysaght, Dirk Maes, Denise McGowan, Yolanda Melero, Xavier Mestdagh, Ian Middlebrook, Yeray Monasterio, Eva Monteiro, Aitor Montes, Miguel López Munguira, Martin Musche, Francisco J. Olivares, Ozge Ozden, Clara Pladevall, Alois Pavličko, Lars B. Pettersson, Laszlo Rákosy, Tobias Roth, Johannes Rüdisser, Martina Šašić, Stefano Scalercio, Manfred Schönwälder, Josef Settele, Izabela Sielezniew, Marcin Sielezniew, Gaëlle Sobczyk-Moran, Constanti Stefanescu, Giedrius Švitra, András Svabadfalvi, Anu Tiitsaar, Nicolas Titeux, Elli Tzirkalli, Olga Tzortzakaki, Andreu UbachPermanyer, Eglė Vičiuvienė, Sarah Vray, Konstantina Zografou</p>
<p>Butterfly Conservation Europe</p>
The EU Butterfly Indicator for Grassland species: 1990-2017: Technical Report
C.A.M. Van Swaay, E.B. Dennis, R. Schmucki, C. Sevilleja, M. Balalaikins, M. Botham, N. Bourn, T. Brereton, J.P. Cancela, B. Carlisle, P. Chambers, S. Collins, C. Dopagne, R. Escobés, R. Feldmann, J. M. Fernández-García, B. Fontaine, A. Gracianteparaluceta, C. Harrower, A. Harpke, J. Heliölä, B. Komac, E. Kühn, A. Lang, D. Maes, X. Mestdagh, I. Middlebrook, Y. Monasterio, M.L. Munguira, T.E. Murray, M. Musche, E. Õunap, F. Paramo, L. Pettersson, J. Piqueray, J. Settele, C. Stefanescu, G. Švitra, A. Tiitsaar, R. Verovnik, M.S. Warren, I. Wynhoff, D.B. Roy
<p>Butterfly Conservation Europe & ABLE/eBMS, 23 p., 2019</p>
The European Butterfly Indicator for Grassland species 1990-2015
C. A. M. Van Swaay, A. J. Van Strien, K. Aghababyan, S. Åström, M. Botham, T. Brereton, B. Carlisle, P. Chambers, S. Collins, C. Dopagne, R. Escobés, R. Feldmann, J. M. Fernández-García, B. Fontaine, S. Goloshchapova, A. Gracianteparaluceta, A. Harpke, J. Heliölä, G. Khanamirian, B. Komac, E. Kühn, A. Lang, P. Leopold, D. Maes, X. Mestdagh, Y. Monasterio, M. L. Munguira, T. Murray, M. Musche, E. Õunap, L. B. Pettersson, J. Piqueray, S. Popoff, I. Prokofev, T. Roth, D. B. Roy, R. Schmucki, J. Settele, C. Stefanescu, G. Švitra, S. M. Teixeira, A. Tiitsaar, R. Verovnik, and M. S. Warren
De Vlinderstichting, Wageningen, Report no. VS2016.019, 42 p., 2016
Colom P., Tejeda A., Bonelli S., Fontaine B., Kuussaari M., Maes D., Mestdagh X., Munguira M.L., Musche M., Pettersson L.B., Roy D., Rüdisser J., Šašić M., Schmucki R., Stefanescu C., Titeux N., Settele J., van Swaay C., Gordillo J., Melero Y.
Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol. 35, n° 2, art. no. e70204, 2026
Addressing Gaps in Butterfly Population Monitoring to Catalyze Global Insect Conservation
Riva F., Schmucki R., Cooke R., Balalaikins M., Barea-Azcón J.M., Basu D.N., Böhm M., Bonebrake T.C., Chowdhury S., Comay O., Debrot A.O., Dolezal A.J., Dyer E.E., Fontaine B., Fric Z.F., Girotra R., Isaac N.J.B., Nagesh K.R., Kühn E., Kunte K., Kutt A.S., Kuussaari M., Larivee M., Legall N., Lien V.V., Madden H.M., Maes D., McGaffin S.P., McRae L., Mestdagh X., Munguira M.L., Musche M., Mynott H.I., Nawge V., Peer G., Pettersson L.B., Pippen J., Reis L., Roth T., Šašić M., Settele J., Sevilleja C., Sheikh S., Sielezniew M., Solis R., Stefanescu C., Titeux N., Tzirkalli E., Ubach A., van Swaay C.A.M., Walker A., Woodcock B.A., Roy D.B.
Conservation Letters, vol. 19, n° 2, art. no. e70037, 2026
