Monarch Butterfly Conservation in Utah
The monarch butterfly, one of the most beloved butterflies of all time, has reached critically low numbers.
The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) not only undergoes a magical transformation (known as metamorphosis) from an egg, to a caterpillar, to a chrysalis, to a butterfly, but it can also migrate up to 3,000 miles to reach its wintering grounds from its breeding areas. Wintering grounds are located in two distinct areas: Mexico, where temperatures are warmer, and the Pacific Coast of California.
Although considered the same species, the eastern population of monarchs is often distinguished from the western population based on assumed migration routes. The line of distinction between the populations is the Rocky Mountain range. Based on tracking data, we now know that the western population winters in both California and Mexico.
Both populations of monarchs are in peril. In particular, the population west of the Rocky Mountains is at an all time low. As of November 2021, almost 250,000 monarchs were reported along the California and northern Baja coast overwintering sites during the annual Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count (See the Xerces report). This is a tremendous increase from less than 2000 monarchs recorded in the same areas the prior year, a critical number that scientists believed was a near-extinction level. The increase in numbers is still speculative but could be due to wildfires, resident monarchs, and/or an influx of eastern monarchs.
Many factors have contributed to previous declines including loss of habitat, loss of its host plant (milkweed) and nectar plants, increased use of herbicides and pesticides, climate change, and drought.
We need the help from citizen scientists throughout the state of Utah to ensure a viable monarch butterfly population west of the Rockies is maintained.
This site provides information on the identification and life cycle of monarchs, identification of native milkweed (the host plant for the monarch caterpillar), important nectar-producing plants that can be grown (needed for the adults), ways that citizens can help with conservation efforts, current news and events, and a multitude of resources that offer additional information.
THE ASK OF COMMUNITY
Community scientists play a key role in gathering information on the abundance, distribution and breeding habitat of these beautiful butterflies in Utah. Our main goal is to learn where and to what degree Utah's landscape supports monarch breeding habitat. This basic but important information is critical to better understand the State of Utah's role in the western monarch butterfly population as a whole. The information also helps help us to better direct resources to protect, preserve, and enhance monarch butterfly habitat.
The State of Utah is asking citizen scientists to help map, record, and describe breeding of monarch butterflies throughout the state of Utah. Detailed survey protocols for 2022 are available HERE to ensure the data gathered is standardized. The process will require you to download and use a mobile phone app called Survey123.
As a community scientist for this effort, you have two options:
1) Steward a Site - Navigate to one of our chosen monarch monitoring sites or choose your one area to search in. Find milkweed in that area and record and describe it through the app. Then, return to that same site throughout the growing season to determine whether monarchs are using that milkweed stand for breeding by looking for eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis, or flying monarch butterflies.
2) Log Pollinator Data Opportunistically - Using the Survey123 app, log data whenever you encounter pollinators, whether you're in your garden, on a hike, working on the farm, or somewhere else.
CONSERVATION PLAN and POTENTIAL LISTING
On December 15, 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that listing the monarch as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act is warranted, but precluded by higher priority listing actions. The decision is the result of an extensive status review of the monarch that compiled and assessed the monarch’s current and future status. The monarch is now a candidate under the Endangered Species Act; they will review its status annually until a listing decision is made. See Assessing the Status of the Monarch Butterfly for more information.
The Western Alliance of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) has created a Conservation Plan for the western population of the monarch butterfly to guide state-level actions in the hopes of curbing and/or reversing this decline.
Additional information on distribution of monarch foraging and breeding, as well as identifying and reporting native milkweed species is needed for the State of Utah. This information is vital to understand how Utah's diverse landscape offers critical habitat for monarch breeding and migration, and how our partners can protect and create monarch habitat across the State.
WHY DO POLLINATORS NEED OUR HELP? Visit the Utah Pollinator Pursuit website to learn more!