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The Urban Observatory of Urban Butterflies uBMS is born as a collaborative network of volunteers joining forces to obtain data on butterfly populations in the cities of Barcelona and Madrid. In this way, relevant data will be obtained to evaluate and understand urban biodiversity, and with it management tools that will promote its increase in our cities.

UBMS joins the international Butterfly Monitoring Schemes (BMS) network, currently in more than 25 countries, including the BMS Spain and the CBMS Catalunya.

The general objective is to obtain monthly data on the presence and abundance of the species present in the cities of Barcelona and Madrid over the years, in order to achieve the specific objectives:

Discover the diversity of butterflies in our cities and their evolution over time

• Create an indicator of urban biodiversity quality
• Understand what are the characteristics of the city that promote biodiversity and which limit it
• Provide management recommendations for gardens and their surroundings to foster biodiversity in cities

The uBMS volunteers make a visit every fortnight from March to the end of October, to one or more parks selected in Madrid or Barcelona, ​​during which they identify and count the species of butterflies they observe. Tak part.

Mor information.
The uBMS joins international network Butterfly Monitoring Programs (abbreviated BMS, English Butterfly Monitoring Schemes), valid in more than 25 countries, including Spain and the Spanish program BMS Catalan CBMS. The idea was started in the United Kingdom, this being the first country to develop a butterfly tracking in 1970.It spread throughout the rest of Europe from the 1990's onwards. In Spain, the first monitoring program was started in Catalonia (CBMS) in 1994; other initiatives have now emerged that are currently linked to the national monitoring program (BMS Spain) and, in parallel, to the follow-ups of the Zerynthia Association.

The purpose of all of them is to obtain information on the abundance and presence of the species in order to be aware of their population changes (eg increases and decreases in abundance) and the possible factors associated with these changes. In many cases this information has applications in the management and conservation of butterflies.

Along with climate change, the growth of urban areas is one of the most important environmental changes facing conservation. As a result, a new interest has been born in discovering and understanding the biodiversity of our cities and, in parallel, fostering a city design with the potential to house native species through the improvement and creation of gardens and green urban areas. That is why the uBMS is supported by the Barcelona and Madrid city councils.

Day butterflies, as well as pollinating insects and an aesthetically attractive group, have a number of characteristics that make them excellent indicators of biodiversity. This means that we can extrapolate to some extent the status of their populations, changes in species richness and abundance, and the causes associated with other species that are more difficult to identify and / or identify.

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