What is PollardBase?

PollardBase is an online system for managing butterfly monitoring programs.  It provides the program director the ability to define routes (transects), collect survey data on those routes, manage the program taxa, and track volunteers, providing a complete permission-based data entry and management system for your monitoring program.

Monitoring programs that follow protocols similar to those described by Ernie Pollard have become known in the butterfly world as Pollard Walks. All these programs use trained volunteers who walk set routes multiple times during each season and over several years.

Volunteers

Most, if not all, monitoring programs (represented on this site) are run by volunteers.  If you would like to become a volunteer, create an account on this website, and send a request to that program to join.

Everyone is encouraged to join, but be aware that this activity requires many hours of commitment and dedication in growing your knowledge.  If you walk a transect, your ability to identify the butterflies (or other taxa) is critical to the data collection effort of that program.  While all levels of expertise welcome, some monitoring programs are better equipped to train beginners than others.

Please visit The North American Butterfly Monitoring Network website to learn more about butterfly monitoring.

Brief History

PollardBase started in 2013 to standardize data collection across butterfly monitoring program, which are based on the same monitoring protocol.  

The program was initially funded in part by an award from the US National Science Foundation (Grant # DBI-1147049) to the University of Maryland.

Lots of info can go here.

Other Biological Groups?

While PollardBase was designed for Lepidoptera, the system can support monitoring programs with a different target species, such as Odonates.  If the collection protocols are similar to those used here, we would be happy to host your program.  Please contact us for more information.