Natural History Wanderings

from the Xerces Society

A new web site is launched to support volunteers counting monarchs in California — and new energy is brought to monarch conservation in the United States thanks to a memo from the president.

Knowing how many monarch butterflies there are and where they overwinter is vital information that shapes protection efforts. Monarchs ranging from British Columbia to Arizona migrate primarily to the California coast, where they overwinter in wooded groves scattered from San Diego to Mendocino. The Western Monarch Count is an annual citizen-science project that collects data on the status of these monarchs during the overwintering season. Xerces has launched the Western Monarch Count web site to support this effort and help coordinate the count.

The height of this volunteer effort occurs during three weeks surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday. Those three weeks are starting now — and you could join in! Roughly 100 overwintering sites are monitored each year, but we know of approximately 450 sites that monarchs are currently using or have used in the past. With your help we can monitor more sites and paint a clearer picture of the status of this vital monarch habitat. The new websiteallows volunteers to find sites to monitor, read information about those sites, and contact regional count coordinators. The project will also use social media to enable volunteers to connect with each other and share count information.

In the last year, a revived energy has been brought to monarch conservation in North America — in large part due to President Obama issuing a memorandum that directs U.S. government agencies to do what they can to protect the butterfly. Xerces has been protecting monarchs since the 1980s, placing us in a good position to help. Through the Monarch Joint Venture, Xerces is helping the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Mexican agencies revise the tri-national North American Monarch Conservation Plan. We are also assisting other federal agencies to develop monarch conservation strategies (including the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Forest Service) and collaborating with NatureServe to complete a status review of the monarch in North America.

But don’t worry if you are not able to help count monarchs this fall, there are still things you can do to conserve monarchs:

• Help map milkweed. Each spring, monarchs leave the California coast and disperse across several western states, searching for milkweed plants on which to lay their eggs. We are also searching for milkweed plants and creating maps of likely monarch breeding areas. You can help with this by contributing to the Milkweed Survey in spring and summer.
• Plant native milkweed. This can be in your backyard, at your workplace, or at your school. Find sources of local, native milkweed seed in your state using our Milkweed Seed Finder.
• Plant native flowers. Monarchs need nectar to provide energy to migrate, breed, and overwinter. For information about which flowers to plant, visit the Bring Back the Pollinators web page.
• Avoid using insecticides and herbicides. These may kill butterflies or caterpillars, or kill the plants that monarchs use for nectaring or breeding.
• Get involved in another citizen science project. The Western Monarch Count web site has a directory of projects in other parts of the continent.
• Support the Xerces Society’s monarch conservation efforts.