- Monarch butterfly populations reached their highest numbers since 2000, with more than 335,000 butterflies counted during the annual Thanksgiving Monarch Butterfly Counts in California and Arizona.
- Western monarch butterflies winter in California, migrating thousands of miles each year in migration cycles of three or four generations. They are counted annually by volunteers at these sites.
- Although the recovery of the population is a positive development, the species is still considered endangered and is far from the population numbers of the 1980s when millions of butterflies were found in trees.
- Conservation activities include protecting wintering grounds, planting native plants, reducing pesticide use, and supporting conservation initiatives. Members of the public can also participate in community science projects and make simple changes to their gardens and communities.
Monarch butterfly populations reached their highest numbers since 2000, with more than 335,000 butterflies counted in wintering grounds in California and Arizona in 26 years.th annual thanksgiving Earl of West Monarch.
“We can all celebrate this tally,” said Emma Pelton, conservation biologist at the Xerces Society and leader of the western monarch butterfly, in a press release. “A second year in a row of relatively good numbers gives us hope that there is still time to act to help Western immigrants.”
More than 250 people participated in the 2022 Western Monarch Count, surveying sites along the California coast and several other sites in inland California and Arizona in November and December. Volunteers counted monarch butterflies, which gathered to spend the winter in the grove. Groves often consisted of exotic eucalyptus.
The largest collection of butterflies, 34,180 individuals, was on private land in Santa Barbara County, California. Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties are home to more than 20,000 butterflies. The San Francisco Bay Area has also seen a substantial increase over the past few years, with approximately 9,000 individuals found.
Publicly accessible sites in California where you can see colonies of monarch butterflies include Pismo Butterfly Grove in San Luis Obispo County, Pacific Grove Sanctuary in Monterey County, and Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz County.
This population less than 2,000 While it’s good news that 2020 will see more than 335,000 birds, scientists estimate that they’re still down more than 90% from their historic numbers in the 1980s and early ’90s, making them wintering grounds in California. was home to millions of monarch butterflies.
“We know we still have a long way to go in recovering populations,” Pelton said.
Scientists don’t know exactly why the numbers have increased in the last two years. But according to Pelton, butterfly numbers, like many other insect populations, “bouncy” It varies from year to year, depending on temperature, rainfall and food availability.
The iconic monarch butterfly is Designated as an endangered species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s leading authority on species conservation status. A threatened species list means that the species is likely to become extinct without significant intervention.
Monarch butterflies meet the criteria listed in the U.S. Endangered Species Act to ensure the protection of butterflies and their habitats, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Seeds in December 2020 not listedsaying that other species have higher priority.
“Unfortunately, there has been little meaningful conservation of this species or its habitat, especially its wintering grounds, which continue to be destroyed and damaged each year,” said Xerces Society conservation biologist and counting coordinator. One Isis Howard said.
Shortly after the Thanksgiving count ended, the California coast was hit by extremely heavy rainfall known as atmospheric rivers, causing flooding, falling tree branches, and uprooting trees. While some wintering sites were unaffected, other volunteers reported increased numbers of monarch butterflies lying on the ground and blown out of their flocks due to inclement weather, affected by cold and dampness as well as predation. I’ve been told it’s easier.
“Small populations are particularly likely to be wiped out by extreme weather, so we’re lucky that these storms occurred in relatively good years,” Pelton says. I don’t want to rely solely on luck to be sure.”
North America has two populations of migratory monarch butterflies, both famous for their impressive overland journeys of up to 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles). Eastern monarch butterflies winter in Mexico, and western monarchs winter in California. In spring, all monarch butterflies migrate north, some as far as Canada. This migration cycle travels thousands of miles and takes three generations or his four. Monarch butterfly population estimates are made at these wintering grounds.
Conservationists say stronger efforts must be made to secure existing wintering sites and make them more resilient to the impacts of climate change. This can be achieved by replacing dead or dead trees, designing sites to prevent or reduce flooding, and growing native plants as nectar sources.
“The plain fact is that if you lose your wintering grounds in California, you can lose your migratory monarch butterflies,” Howard said. “To leave space for these animals to survive. , development, eucalyptus removal and tree felling all need to be carefully managed.”
After leaving their wintering grounds, monarch butterflies rely on finding suitable habitat and securing breeding grounds in several western states. Gardeners, park managers, schools and others can play a role in restoring monarch butterfly populations by making simple and effective changes such as:
- Growing native milkweed (Askle Pierce)plant.
- I am raising various honey plantpreferably native to your area.
- Reduce or avoid the use of pesticides.
- To policy makers, Restoring American Wildlife Laws and the Monarch Action, Restoration, and Habitat Conservation Act.
- participate in regional science projects that monitor monarchs such as monarch butterfly milkweed mapper, Western Monarch Mystery Challenge and nationally Integrated Monarch monitoring program.
“There are so many people and organizations coming together to try to protect this butterfly and its habitat. From contributing to science, we all have a role to play in ensuring that this iconic insect makes a full recovery. Moth expert group.
“It is difficult to see monarch butterflies and their extraordinary migrations teetering on the brink of collapse, but there are signs of hope,” she added.
banner image monarch butterflies growing in colonies in Monterey pine. Photo courtesy of Carly Voight / Xerces Society.
Liz Kimbrough Mongabay staff writer. find her on her twitter @Liz Kinbrough
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