Dwindling Numbers for an Iconic Insect: A Conservation Biologist - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Dwindling Numbers for an Iconic Insect: A Conservation Biologist - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Aug 22, 2022 413 likes •897 views

Dwindling Numbers for an Iconic Insect: A Conservation Biologist Ponders Moving Beyond the Documentation of Declines Dr. Karen Oberhauser Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology University of Minnesota Conservation requires

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Dwindling Numbers for an Iconic Insect:

A Conservation Biologist Ponders Moving Beyond the Documentation of Declines

  • Dr. Karen Oberhauser

Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology University of Minnesota

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Conservation requires knowledge

  • What organisms need
  • How those needs can be met
  • Why needs aren’t being met
  • What we must do to assure that

they are met

Conservation requires hope Conservation requires action

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Key Points

  • 1. Monarchs have a complex natural

history.

  • 2. People are very interested in

monarchs.

  • 3. Despite our interest, monarch

numbers are declining.

  • 4. There are many reasons for this

decline.

  • 5. How should we respond to this

“problem with many causes”?

  • 6. We may need to accept the reality

that we are facing a “new normal” for monarch numbers.

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  • 1. MONARCHS HAVE A

COMPLEX LIFE HISTORY

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Annual Cycle

(migrating south, overwintering, migrating north, breeding)

2-3 generations

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How does Complex Life History Affect Vulnerability?

  • More vulnerable to anthropogenic change?

– Depend on diverse resources across vast landscape

  • Less vulnerable to

anthropogenic change?

– Propensity to move could buffer against shifting resources

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  • 2. PEOPLE ARE VERY

INTERESTED IN MONARCHS

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Monarchs are Intensively Monitored

Spring migration Breeding & expansion

Overwintering Colony counts (WWF-Mex, MBBR, WTMC) Spring migration JN Juveniles & parasites MLMP, MH

Adult Counts (NABA, IL, OH, FL, Shapiro, Weber)

arrival

Tagging MW, SWMS

migration Fall

Fall Roosts CM, LP, PP, JN Fall migration JN, MW MONITORING PROGRAMS

  • NABA: North American Butterfly

Association count program

  • IL: Illinois monitoring network
  • OH: Ohio monitoring network
  • Shapiro: No. CA monitoring

program

  • Weber: MN monitoring site
  • MLMP: Monarch Larva

Monitoring Project

  • MH: Monarch Health
  • JN: Journey North
  • WWF-Mex: World Wildlife Fund

and MBBR in Mexico

  • WTMC: Thanksgiving Monarch

Counts

  • MW: MonarchWatch
  • SWMS: Southwest Monarch

Study

  • CM: Cape May roost monitoring
  • LP: Long Point roost monitoring
  • PP: Peninsula Point roost

monitoring

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Citizen Science Champions of Change

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Journey North Reports of First Spring Monarchs

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Value of Citizen Science Efforts

Volunteers spent a total of ~86,000 hours (not including travel time) collecting data on monarchs in 2011 (equivalent of ~41 full time field technicians)

Ries and Oberhauser in review

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Monarch Breeding Habitat

>7000 registered Monarch Waystations

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Education

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Willingness to pay survey

People will shell out money for monarchs October 30, 2013 Conservation This Week Americans Would Pay $4 Billion To Save Monarch Butterflies It's an unusually loveable bug, according to a new survey Popular Science The People’s Choice: Americans Would Pay to Help Monarch Butterflies Released: 10/28/2013 9:00:00 AM

Diffendorfer, Loomis, Ries, Oberhauser et al. 2013

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How aware were you that monarch numbers were in decline before reading about it here?

Data from survey conducted by the National Gardener’s Association and analyzed by Leslie Ries

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Why? Monarchs are… Beautiful Familiar Interesting Impressive

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Monarchs as Pollinators

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  • 3. DESPITE OUR INTEREST,

MONARCH NUMBERS ARE DECLINING

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Winter Colony Area Declining: Mexico

Data: WWF-Mexico & the Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca (RBMM) 5 10 15 20 25 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Area (hectares)

Winter Start Year

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Winter Colony Numbers Declining: US

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The Monarch Migration at Risk

  • World Wildlife

Fund: Top 10 Species to Watch (2010)

  • IUCN Red List:

Endangered Phenomenon listing (1983)

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  • 4. THERE ARE MANY

REASONS FOR THIS DECLINE

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Breeding and Migratory Habitat

  • US is losing >5000

acres per day to real estate & energy development (Land Trust Alliance 2013).

  • Much of this land

contained milkweed and nectar plants.

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Herbicide-tolerant Crops Effectively Cause Habitat Loss

  • In 2000, 34-73 times

more monarchs came from agricultural fields than non-agricultural areas (Oberhauser et al. 2001).

  • We have lost almost all
  • f this habitat due to

herbicide use on “Round-up ReadyTM” corn and soybean plants.

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Adoption of Herbicide Tolerant Crops

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

% of Total Acreage

Soybeans (HT) Corn (HT + Stacked)

Data from USDA NASS

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Overwintering Habitat Loss - Mexico

Photos by L. Brower

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Overwintering Habitat Loss - CA

In past decade, 62 of 458 historic roosting locations in CA have been lost (Jensen and Black, in press).

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Climate Change

  • Extreme climate events

– Winter storms – Drought

  • Altered habitat location

– Increased temperature in breeding range – Increased winter temperatures in southern US

  • Disrupted biotic interactions

– Changed milkweed/oyamel ranges – Altered timing of predators or parasitoids

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Other Factors

  • Insecticides
  • Invasive species:

Swallow-worts could serve as monarch “sinks”

  • Increased disease

incidence?

  • Collisions with

vehicles?

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  • 5. HOW SHOULD WE

RESPOND TO THIS “PROBLEM WITH MANY CAUSES”?

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How We should NOT Respond

  • Assume that there is nothing

we can do, since addressing so many causes is impossible

  • Argue about whose fault the

problem is

  • Assume that it is a waste of

time and money to address smaller causes

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Conservation Requires Knowledge

  • Monitor monarchs to assess

population status (document declines and successes)

  • Study factors that affect

monarch survival, movement, reproductive success

  • Study potential impacts of

climate change

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Conservation Requires Action

  • Address habitat loss

(nectar/milkweed resources, overwintering sites)

  • Plan for climate change
  • Educate and advocate
  • Support organizations

working to preserve monarchs and pollinators

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Conservation Requires Hope

  • International

– International network of Monarch Reserves (Can, Mex) – Sister Protect Areas (Can, Mex, US) – North American Monarch Conservation Plan (Can, Mex, US)

  • Mexico

– Decrees to protect overwintering sites – Sustainable tourism – Species at Risk Norm – Monarch Fund, Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, A.C. – WWF-Mexico – Red Monarca (18 organizations working in MBBR)

  • US

– USFWS Wildlife without Borders – USFS and USFS-International Programs – Monarch Joint Venture (14

  • rganizations promoting monarch

conservation in the US) – State Departments of Natural Resources – Natural Resources Conservation Service (conservation in ag areas) – CA work to protect wintering sites

  • Canada

– Species of special concern – Federal management plan

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Monarch Habitat Conservation

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Priority Milkweeds for each Region

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Milkweed Seed Increase Project

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Research and Monitoring

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Education

  • Citizen Science

workshops

  • North American

Monarch Institutes

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  • 6. WE MAY NEED TO ACCEPT

THE REALITY THAT WE ARE FACING A “NEW NORMAL” FOR MONARCH NUMBERS

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What this Means….

  • We may not see repeats
  • f the large numbers

that were common a decade ago

  • We need to work to

maintain public interest in monarchs

  • We must do all we can

to ensure that the new normal is sustainable

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Our Efforts will be Worthwhile

  • Monarchs exist in mosaic
  • f rare and pristine, and

common and disturbed habitats shared with many other species

  • Incredibly interesting
  • rganism from which we

still have a lot to learn

  • Monarch migration is an

unmatched biological phenomenon

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Acknowledgements

  • Citizen Scientists and other volunteers who have contributed to our understanding
  • f monarch biology, and who engage in conservation actions every day.
  • Governments of Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and individual agencies

working to protect monarchs and to conserve the natural resources upon which they and we depend.

  • Photos: Carol Cullar, Fred Ormand, Wendy Caldwell, Andy Davis, Pat Davis,

Anurag Agrawal, Karen Hanson, Mary Ryan Cherry, farmflavor.com, sfntoday, Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept., Iowa State University, Lincoln Brower, Jackson County Mosquito Control, RA Nonenmacher (Wikimedia Commons), De Cansler, John Anderson, Michelle Solensky, Barbara Powers, Tony Gomez, Pablo Jaramillo, Jessica Griffiths

  • Everyone with whom I’ve

worked for the past 29 years to understand and conserve monarchs, especially my students, and my Monarch Butterfly Fund and Monarch Joint Venture colleagues.