TITEUX Nicolas
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CANTU SALAZAR Lisette
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MESTDAGH Xavier
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VRAY Sarah
Send an emailLUxembourg Pollinator Monitoring Scheme
Pollinating insects – such as wild bees, hoverflies, butterflies, and beetles – play a vital role in ecosystem functioning, food production, and human well-being. However, there is growing evidence that wild pollinators are declining in both abundance and diversity at regional and global scales, largely due to human activities.
Long-term, systematic monitoring is essential to track these changes, detect population declines, and understand their drivers. Such data provide a critical basis for conservation strategies and evidence-based environmental policies.
At international and European levels, pollinator monitoring has become a priority through initiatives such as the International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators, the EU Pollinator Initiative, the Nature Restoration Regulation, and Luxembourg’s Pollinator Action Plan (PAN) 2021–2026, which calls for the establishment of a systematic, long-term national monitoring programme for pollinating insects.
Supported financially by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity (MECB), LIST coordinates the Luxembourg Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (LUPoMS), which integrates two complementary programmes: the Wild Pollinator Monitoring Programme Luxembourg (MONIPOL) and the Luxembourg Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (LUBMS).
Together, these programmes form a coordinated framework to generate robust, long-term population trend data for pollinating insects. They rely on standardized and quantitative field methods, including transect walks and pan trapping, ensuring consistency and comparability over time.
LUPoMS follows a stratified random sampling design, with survey sites distributed across the countryside to ensure representative coverage of Luxembourg’s environmental diversity. Fieldwork is conducted by LIST researchers in collaboration with trained citizen scientists and partner organizations.
The programme is aligned with European initiatives such as the European Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (EUPoMS) and the European Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (eBMS), ensuring methodological compatibility and enabling integration into wider European assessments.
LUPoMS provides a nationwide framework for long-term pollinator monitoring, delivering data on species trends and ecosystem dynamics. These data support scientific research on biodiversity change and contribute to a better understanding of pollination as an essential ecosystem service.
Our latest exploratory graphs show average counts per km walked along monitoring transects distributed across the country. For each month from April to September, we estimated the average butterfly or bumblebee counts for different periods:
At the policy level, the programme underpins national conservation strategies and feeds into European monitoring efforts by contributing to indicators such as the Grassland Butterfly Index in Europe and emerging EU-wide pollinator and global insect indicators. This supports the evaluation of environmental policies and conservation measures at multiple scales.
The standardized methodologies developed within LUPoMS are also applied in targeted monitoring initiatives, including habitat restoration projects and biodiversity impact assessments. In parallel, the involvement of citizen scientists strengthens public engagement and awareness around pollinator conservation.
Overall, LUPoMS represents a key pillar of Luxembourg’s biodiversity monitoring schemes, supporting evidence-based decision-making and contributing to coordinated national and international efforts to safeguard pollinators.
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>
Integrating national Red Lists for prioritising conservation actions for European butterflies
<p>D. Maes, R. Verovnik, M. Wiemers, D. Brosens, S. Beshkov, S. Bonelli, J. Buszko, L. Cantú-Salazar, L.-F. Cassar, S. Collins, V. Dincă, M. Djuric, G. Dušej, H. Elven, F. Franeta, P. Garcia-Pereira, Y. Geryak, P. Goffart, Á. Gór, U. Hiermann, H. Höttinger, P. Huemer, P. Jakšić, E. John, H. Kalivoda, V. Kati, P. Kirkland, B. Komac, Á. Kőrösi, A. Kulak, M. Kuussaari, L. L’Hoste, S. Lelo, X. Mestdagh, N. Micevski, I. Mihoci, S. Mihut, Y. Monasterio-León, D. V. Morgun, M. L. Munguira, T. Murray, P. S. Nielsen, E. Ólafsson, E. Õunap, L. N. Pamperis, A. Pavlíčko, L. B. Pettersson, S. Popov, M. Popović, J. Pöyry, M. Prentice, L. Reyserhove, N. Ryrholm, M. Šašić, N. Savenkov, J. Settele, M. Sielezniew, S. Sinev, C. Stefanescu, G. Švitra, T. Tammaru, A. Tiitsaar, E. Tzirkalli, O. Tzortzakaki, C. A. M. van Swaay, A. L. Viborg, I. Wynhoff, K. Zografou, and M. S. Warren</p>
<p>Journal of Insect Conservation, journal article vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 301-330, 2019</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
Reverté S., Miličić M., Ačanski J., Andrić A., Aracil A., Aubert M., Balzan M.V., Bartomeus I., Bogusch P., Bosch J., Budrys E., Cantú-Salazar L., Castro S., Cornalba M., Demeter I., Devalez J., Dorchin A., Dufrêne E., Đorđević A., Fisler L., Fitzpatrick Ú., Flaminio S., Földesi R., Gaspar H., Genoud D., Geslin B., Ghisbain G., Gilbert F., Gogala A., Grković A., Heimburg H., Herrera-Mesías F., Jacobs M., Janković Milosavljević M., Janssen K., Jensen J.K., Ješovnik A., Józan Z., Karlis G., Kasparek M., Kovács-Hostyánszki A., Kuhlmann M., Le Divelec R., Leclercq N., Likov L., Litman J., Ljubomirov T., Madsen H.B., Marshall L., Mazánek L., Milić D., Mignot M., Mudri-Stojnić S., Müller A., Nedeljković Z., Nikolić P., Ødegaard F., Patiny S., Paukkunen J., Pennards G., Pérez-Bañón C., Perrard A., Petanidou T., Pettersson L.B., Popov G., Popov S., Praz C., Prokhorov A., Quaranta M., Radchenko V.G., Radenković S., Rasmont P., Rasmussen C., Reemer M., Ricarte A., Risch S., Roberts S.P.M., Rojo S., Ropars L., Rosa P., Ruiz C., Sentil A., Shparyk V., Smit J., Sommaggio D., Soon V., Ssymank A., Ståhls G., Stavrinides M., Straka J., Tarlap P., Terzo M., Tomozii B., Tot T., van der Ent L.J., van Steenis J., van Steenis W., Varnava A.I., Vereecken N.J., Veselić S.
Insect Conservation and Diversity, vol. 16, n° 6, pp. 758-775, 2023
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
