Pearl-bordered fritillary, Petra Schattanek

Institution: Department of Ecology, University of Innsbruck

Project lead: Johannes Rüdisser

Sternwartestr. 15, 6020 Innsbruck

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Viel-Falter: Butterfly Monitoring

In Viel-Falter: Butterfly Monitoring volunteers, together with researchers from the Department of Ecology of the University of Innsbruck, observe, identify and count butterflies. The aim is to build up and establish an Austria-wide systematic butterfly monitoring.

Butterflies are an excellent indicator group for the ecologically extremely important animal group of insects. They react quickly and sensitively to habitat and environmental changes. Butterflies are also excellent for raising awareness of the importance of biodiversity due to their positive image.

Given the diverse habitats in Austria, 4,095 different species of butterflies live here, considerably more than in the much larger Germany. At the same time, many butterfly species are threatened and even species that used to be common are seen more rarely. The main causes for this downturn are changes in land use, intensification in agriculture and use of pesticides. Precise statements are difficult, however, as there are hardly any long-term monitoring programs to date. This is exactly what will change thanks to the Viel-Falter: Butterfly Monitoring.

In the Viel-Falter: Butterfly monitoring, surveys by volunteers (Citizen Science) are combined with professional scientific surveys. Thus, the advantages of two approaches are used to collect high quality and scientifically sound data. Thereby, the Viel-Falter butterfly monitoring also makes an important contribution to an Austrian biodiversity monitoring as well as an EU-wide butterfly monitoring.

At the same time, the monitoring contributes to raising awareness of the importance of biodiversity by involving volunteers. Education and public relations are therefore an important part of the Viel-Falter: Butterfly monitoring. At regular training and education events, participating volunteers and other interested parties can improve their knowledge and species awareness and make an important contribution to nature conservation.

Online course on butterfly monitoring

To ensure good data quality, intensive and personal training and support of the volunteers involved is of great importance. Our online course makes it possible to address many interested parties while maintaining a high level of quality. The course explains what biodiversity monitoring is, why it is important, and how butterfly monitoring works. The course is concluded by an individual personal meeting.

Click here for the blog post that introduces the course in more detail (in German).

Our aims are:

Knowledge-based decisions instead of flying blind!
Systematic and long-term monitoring of butterfly stands in Austria.
Building a reference data set on the occurrence and development of butterfly populations in Austria, especially in the Alps.
Making an essential contribution to monitoring biodiversity in Austria.
Raising awareness for the importance of biodiversity and the preservation of regional biodiversity.
To contribute to an Austrian biodiversity monitoring as well as to the European butterfly monitoring.
Integration or creation of interfaces to surveys of other animal groups, especially insects.

How can you participate?

Anyone interested in butterflies can observe butterflies with a simple identification guide for butterflies in predefined locations in Austria. The observations will be carried out several times a year. No previous knowledge is required. The Viel-Falter team will offer personal training tailored to the individual volunteer.