Monarch Butterflies: Urgent Action Needed
Western vs Eastern Monarchs
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Population Decline
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Community scientists began monitoring the abundance of monarch butterflies at overwintering sites in California in the 1980s, but the concerted effort of the Thanksgiving Count didn't begin until 1997. As can be seen in graphs 2 and 3, both the western and eastern monarch butterfly populations have been significantly declining. As populations become smaller, “ordinary” environmental variation can cause a population to drop below a point from which extinction is inevitable, unless extraordinary measures are taken. We call this point the quasi-extinction threshold. “In 2016, a group of experts proposed 30,000 butterflies as the quasi-extinction threshold for western monarchs. Current trends indicate an extinction risk of 72% in 20 years and 86% in 50 years (Schultz et al., 2017)”. By the mid-2010s the population has declined by about 97%. Then in the winter of 2018-2019 the population declined to only 30,000, which was an 86% drop from the prior year. These numbers are very alarming because they indicate a greater than 99% decrease in the monarch population from the 1980s and the monarch population has reached the quasi-extinction threshold. The monarch is up for reevaluation to be put on the endangered species list in 2024. Drastic action needs to be taken soon to prevent the western monarch from going extinct.
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Conservation Priorities
So what can be done now? Emma Pelton’s article addresses the critical short-term conservation priorities are to:
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Monarch Habitat in CA
Monarch Habitat in Mexico
Illegal Logging and Thinning in Mexico
Pesticides
Grass-root Programs
There are many grass-root programs that are attempting to protect, manage, and restore breeding and migratory habitats throughout the western monarch's range. In Utah, three of the most active groups are Southwest Monarch Study, Utah Friends of Monarchs, and Western Monarch Advocates. With the help of House Bill 224 to get pollinator plants in the ground these organizations are trying to get organizations and individuals to plant milkweed. They grow seeds and distribute them to all who are interested in growing milkweed, the only plant that the caterpillars will eat. For me personally, I am trying to find ways to create several monarch waystations by planting milkweed and other nectar flowers at various places around Salt Lake City.
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Conclusion
The tri-national initiative between Mexico, the US and Canada aimed to conserve the monarch migratory phenomena can play an important role in promoting a shared responsibility. This requires international coordination and cooperation on a continental scale. Although this is an international crisis, it is not just up to someone else to solve these problems. What we do in our own backyards is impacting the whole. The monarch butterflies numbers are critically low and every butterfly flitting gracefully past you, potentially laying eggs on a milkweed plant that you planted and doesn't get killed by the pesticides in your yard makes a difference. The ability of your children and grandchildren to be excited to see the beautiful monarch flutter across their paths is contingent on our actions as individuals, our communities actions, along with the national and international policies put into place to protect and preserve the monarch butterfly. Individuals caring about the monarch butterfly and making it a priority is what will eventually keep the monarch alive or ensure its extinction. The conservation of the monarch butterfly is a complex task and requires everyone at all levels, from the governments to the local people, to internationally coordinated efforts to address the primary challenges monarchs face: prevent illegal logging in the core zones of the MBBR; increase milkweed populations and avoid toxic pesticides to ensure nectar availability to monarch butterflies throughout its migratory route and breeding areas, restoring and maintaining habitats along the fall monarch migration, and protecting overwintering sites in both the US and Mexico (Pelton, 2019).
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