Butterflies (Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea) as potential ecological indicators of riparian quality in the semi-arid western United States

Ecological indicators can be used to detect, diagnose, and summarize information about environmental problems. Despite these important values, few indicators have been systematically validated. Broad information on relevance, feasibility, estimates of variance, and interpretation of the ecological indicator is needed for initial validation. Comparisons of ecological indicators can only be accomplished if they are contrasted with standard published criteria. In this paper, information on the potential use of butterflies as indicators of riparian quality is provided within a standard framework. Additionally, data from riparian areas along the Arkansas, Green, Pecos, Rio Grande, and Yampa rivers were collected to validate...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Ecological Indicators, assessment, butterfly assemblages, butterfly index, ecological indicators, All tags... floodplains, metrics, monitoring, riparian, Fewer tags