Update on wintering Monarchs and two upcoming presentations
From TEA member Don Davis:
RELEASE OF 2020/21 WINTERING MONARCH POPULATION DATA FROM MEXICO
On Feb 25, 2021, WWF Mexico, in collaboration with their partners, released the latest population data for Monarchs wintering in Mexico in 2020-21. Monarchs occupied 2.10 hectares in December 2020, compared to 2.83 hectares in 2019 – a 26% decline from the previous year.
Major factors that impact the Monarch population include climate and habitat availability.
Also released was data related to the degradation of the Monarch wintering forest in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve from 2019-20. Best calculations suggest that the percentage of degradation quadrupled from the previous year, mostly due to illegal logging but also because of drought and wind falls.
Observers in Canada and the United States were not surprised by the reported Monarch population decline, having observed reduced numbers on July 1st counts and also during the annual fall migration.
Earlier, on January 29, 2021, Xerces Society announced that only 1914 wintering Monarchs were counted along the California coast – a decline from the 1980’s of 99.9%.
Many are concerned about the dire consequences of winter storms and record cold temperatures in Texas and northern Mexico during the period Feb. 10 – 20, 2021. Nearly all above ground vegetation and insects died back. We know that the size of the summer Monarch population in Canada is driven by the early reproductive success of Monarchs in Texas and the southern United States.
As scientists and others monitor the return and reproductive success of Monarchs in their northern breeding grounds, your reports and observations for all life stages of Monarchs to Ontario Butterfly Atlas and Journey North will be particularly important in 2021, as will your efforts to provide nectar sources and breeding habitat for Monarchs.
Monarch Butterfly Fund, a U.S. based non-profit organization chaired by Don Davis, will again be funding reforestation projects in the Monarch Reserve, and workshops to benefit local communities. These workshops will include building high efficiency wood stoves and water cisterns, and sustainable farming and forestry practices. MBF recently held a highly successful webinar about Monarchs in Mexico and will soon be posting an informative fact sheet to questions posed by participants. Go to: https://monarchconservation.org/
Link to MBF webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnddC_qulc8&t=187s
UPCOMING EVENTS:
On Tuesday March 9 at 1pm EST, join Monarch Crusader Carol Pasternak as she interviews Monarch Watch Conservation Specialist Brenda Dziedzic. Brenda is the author of the enormously popular Raising Butterflies in the Garden, now in its stunning and detailed second edition. We'll get an inside view of her kitchen table rearing lab, as well as a video tour of her small urban garden, which attracts more than 30 species of Lepidoptera. Click here to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtdOCtrTwjGtbuXTn5e0-QhBlBC7i1G1C0
Monarch Joint Venture – Monarch Conservation Webinar Series. Outstanding presentations about many topics related to Monarchs and their conservation. Next event will be held on March 23, 2020: https://monarchjointventure.org/events
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