In our Conserving Biodiversity: Pollinators project, Adventure Scientists has joined forces with the University of Arizona to establish the first large-scale backcountry dataset that identifies butterfly abundance, diversity, and distribution as well as host plant phases across remote portions of their ranges.
Volunteers navigate to specific areas of study using apps such as Gaia GPS. Once there, they use the iNaturalist app to upload photos of the butterflies and host plants that they observe.
Once the data is processed and compiled, public land managers can use it to inform decisions about prescribed burning, protection of threatened species, and forest planning.