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5 Ways to Help Save the Western Monarchs

12/31/2018

6 Comments

 

  The Xerces Society recently released a Western Monarch Call to Action plan. 
According to the recent Xerces Society Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count, the Western Monarchs are in trouble and now is the time to take ACTION.

The Western monarch population needs your help and this blog will tell you how. First, I want to mention some of the organizations that are doing important work for the Monarchs.

Art Shapiro, a professor of Evolution and Ecology at University of California- Davis, has been collecting data on the California Monarch populations for 34 years! A link to his site is here. 
The Southwest Monarch Study is also doing research in Arizona and the Southwestern United States to better understand the monarch migration. The Xerces Society recently released a Western Monarch Call to Action plan which I am going to summarize below.

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(To download the Call to Action PDF click here). 

1.) Protect and manage California overwintering sites.

In summary, we need to work at local, regional and state levels to protect overwintering habitat in California and stop the destruction of overwintering sites. You can also contact your local elected official to ask that monarch overwintering sites in your area be protected.

Visit Protecting California’s Butterfly Groves: Management Guidelines for Monarch Butterfly Overwintering Habitat, published by the Xerces Society, for more information on this subject.

2.) Restore breeding and migratory habitat in California.

The primary focus for habitat restoration should be (but not limited to) the Coast Range, Sacramento Valley, and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

We need people who live in these areas to plant habitat, both nectar-producing native species as well as native milkweed species, especially early and late bloomers which include:
  • Woollypod (Asclepias eriocarpa),
  • California (A. californica), 
  • Heartleaf milkweed (A. cordifolia)
  • Narrowleaf (A. fascicularis) 
  • Showy milkweed (A. speciosa).
  • In the desert southwest of California, plant rush (A. subulata) and desert milkweed (A. erosa).

AVOID planting non-native Tropical Milkweed, a non-native species which stays evergreen and does not die back in areas with mild winters—interrupts the monarchs’ natural migratory cycle, leading to disease build-up and winter breeding 

Ask your local nursery to start supplying native milkweed. Organize a group to collect milkweed seed and propagate it. Engage with seed companies, plant nurseries, and land management entities to work together to ramp up production and ensure a diverse supply of native milkweeds and nectar plants which are insecticide free.
​
Click here to find a monarch nectar plant guide for your region.. 

3.) Protect monarchs and their habitat from pesticides

We need to stop using pesticides and seek out non-chemical options to prevent and manage pests in your garden and landscaping. We need to push to suspend use of neonicotinoids that are known to harm pollinators.

Check out the Xerces Society’s 
pesticide reduction resources.

4.) Protect, manage, and restore summer breeding and fall migration monarch habitat outside of California.

Identify existing monarch habitat around you so you can work to protect it.  Choose an overwintering site near you to start monitoring here. 

Conduct management activities such as mowing, burning, and grazing in monarch habitat when monarchs are NOT present.
​
Restore monarch habitat in regions where monarch habitat has been lost such as the Columbia Plateau, Snake River Plain, and riparian areas.

Visit Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper to preview maps of the areas with the highest monarch habitat suitability in the West. Contact monarchs@xerces.org if you are interested in receiving copies of the associated map products for planning or research purposes.

5.) Answer key research questions about how to best aid western monarch recovery.

"Right now, we need Californians and Arizonans to collect observations of monarchs and milkweeds, especially in the early spring (February–April), the period in which monarchs leave the overwintering sites and which scientists know least about.

In the next few weeks/months, we need eyes looking out for monarchs across the rest of the West, too, in particular, in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. "

Thank you to all of the monarch conservation agencies, citizen scientists, teachers, park workers and monarch lovers for all of the work you do.

6 Comments
Sarah Smith link
4/30/2019 05:33:56 pm

I didn't realize that you not only have to restore the plants, but you have to pay attention to where the animals naturally migrate when planning habitat restoration. That makes me wonder if we have built cities in the path of natural trails. It would probably be helpful to find someone who is an expert in habitat restoration because they will know what is needed and where.

Reply
Rebecca
4/4/2020 10:04:41 am

Hi Sarah,
Thank you for your thoughtful comment! I agree that urban development has had a hand in fragmenting monarch habitat along with poor land management practices such as mowing at the wrong time and applying pesticides. One way to take matters into our own hands is to plant milkweed and nectar sources in our own gardens. If enough people plant habitat in their backyards, we can create a huge amount of habitat for our pollinators.

Reply
Jorge Robleto
8/29/2019 11:51:24 pm

Looking to learn more about helping our planet anyway I can. One native plant at a time.

Reply
Rebecca
4/4/2020 10:07:16 am

Hi Jorge,
That is wonderful. Thank you for reading! A great place to start is planting a pollinator garden in your yard, church, school or community garden.

Reply
Eva Durance
3/12/2020 10:27:20 am

I live in the South Okanagan valley of British Columbia, Canada and wondered if there is data on monarchs in our area. I am out birding, plant scouting, hiking, and biking constantly, but in 30 years here have seen only 4 monarchs. Good patches of Asclepias speciosa (Showy milkweed) in the area though.

Reply
Rebecca
4/4/2020 10:14:51 am

Hi Eva,
Thanks for your comment. It sounds like you're already on the road to becoming a great citizen scientist. I would recommend checking data on https://inaturalist.ca/guides/5404 where you can find where others have submitted monarch sightings in your area as well as https://maps.journeynorth.org/maps
As the monarchs continue to migrate northward, you will see more sightings listed in your area and may get to submit your own as well. Thank you!

Reply



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    Author

    Rebecca Chandler
    Garden Educator, Naturalist and Ethnobotanist

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