Good news and bad news…
Be sure to read these two important articles about the monarch population. The first one reports an increase in the monarch overwintering population (good news). The second one reports the effects of a devastating storm at the monarch wintering grounds in Mexico (bad news), demonstrating the vulnerability of the monarch population.
Monarch numbers up, but Iowa consortium still encourages conservation
The World Wildlife Fund has announced a large increase in the monarch butterfly population overwintering in Mexico this year.The increase shows a large improvement over past years, but members of the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium want to keep the improvements going, and Story County residents have several options to get involved.The survey showed adult butterflies covered 4.01 hectares, or roughly 10 acres, of land in Mexico this year, which is up from the previous years of covering three or fewer acres.Sue Blodgett, chair of the Department of Entomology at Iowa State University, said a recent March 15 storm in Mexico did drop that number a bit, but there was likely “not a great deal of mortality.” Journey North, a global study on wildlife migration and seasonal change, noted that it is also unknown how many butterflies had already left the southern sanctuaries.But Blodgett said regardless of the potential loss, the U.S. goal is to have the population cover 6 hectares, or about 15 acres.“So they’d still like that to be just a little bit higher than it is right now,” she said. Read entire article here
Huge winter storm at monarch wintering grounds
A winter storm of historic proportions has struck the monarch sanctuaries in Mexico. There is no word yet about how the monarchs were affected. However, the sequence of events is of particular concern. The storm began with rain and was followed by hail, snow, and sub-freezing temperatures. The butterflies are more susceptible to mortality from freezing when wet. Photos from El Rosario Sanctuary show trees within the sanctuary core zone toppled by the strong winds. Spring migration from Mexico was imminent but mass departure had evidently not yet occurred meaning the full population was in the storm’s path. Read entire article here
