MONARCHS AND POLLINATORS: THE NEED FOR HABITAT RESTORATION ORLEY R. CHIP TAYLOR DIRECTOR MONARCH WATCH UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

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3 MONARCHS AND POLLINATORS: THE NEED FOR HABITAT RESTORATION ORLEY R. CHIP TAYLOR DIRECTOR MONARCH WATCH UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

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11 NATAL ORIGINS OF MONARCHS OVERWINTERING IN MEXICO

12 Wassenaar LI, Hobson KA Natal origins of monarchs at overwintering colonies

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14 >90% of overwintering monarchs originate within area indicated in red

15 WHY ARE MONARCHS DECLINING? GMOs - herbicide (glyphosate) tolerant corn and soy Economics of renewable fuel standard (RFS) Conversion of rangeland and grasslands to croplands for biofuels (ethanol) Development 1.24 million acres/year Intensive agriculture reduced field margins Management of marginal lands herbicides Insecticides mosquito control, neonics Degradation of overwintering habitats in Mexico Unfavorable conditions during breeding season

16 LOSS OF HABITAT DUE TO ADOPTION OF HERBICIDE TOLERANT CROPS

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19 Adoption of herbicide tolerant crops vs decline in monarch overwintering population 2013 SOY=93 CORN=85

20 LOSS OF HABITAT ASSOCIATED WITH THE ADOPTION OF THE RENEWABLE FUEL STANDARD

21 Faber, Rundquist and Male (2012) Plowed Under.

22 Lark, et al 2015

23 TOTAL HABITAT LOSS SINCE 1996 Row crops 125 Renewable Fuel Standard (ethanol) 25 Development/Miscellaneous >23 Total 173* *Texas = 171 million acres

24 INTENSIVE LAND USE NEAR WANDA, MN 22 JULY 2015

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27 MOWED ROADSIDE - LACKING HABITAT FOR MONARCHS, POLLINATORS AND WILDLIFE

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29 MONARCH RECOVERY What is our restoration target? Do we have a plan? Will efforts be coordinated? Where the milkweed/monarch or I-35 corridor The plants milkweeds and native nectar sources Plug plots and seeding spring and fall Capacity issues seeds Implementation Restoration costs

30 MONARCH BUTTERFLY RECOVERY PLAN

31 Asclepias viridis Green antelope horn

32 Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed) Pastures, roadsides, disturbed ground, uncommon to rare in prairies

33 RESTORATION TARGET Baseline values million monarchs/hectare milkweed stems per monarch in Mexico. Present number of stems and potential. overwintering population hectares. Goal 6 hectares or million by Stems needed billion = >20 million acres!

34 MONARCH WAYSTATION PROGRAM Monarch Waystations Started 2005 How many 15,357 registered, >35,000 created Home - 51%, school - 10%, park - 6%, farm - 5% Distribution - 49 states and DC 6 Canadian Provinces

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42 CHIP TAYLOR

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47 PLUGS A. VIRIDIS, A. SULLIVANTII, A. SYRIACA, A. INCARNATA - READY TO SHIP OR PLANT

48 Roots A. incarnata A. tuberosa A. viridis

49 SAVE THE MONARCH MIGRATION PLANT MILKWEED Plugs distributed 2013 >22, >59, >109, >200,000

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51 Eastern Shawnee Tribal Land Wyandotte, Oklahoma Milkweed planting layout

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53 Monarch Highway Canada United States Mexico

54 INTERSTATE 35 CREATING A MONARCH HIGHWAY

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56 Creating The Monarch Highway will strongly communicate the. need to maintain the integrity of the system that supports monarchs, pollinators and other species sharing these habitats.

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58 OUTCOME Short term goal/outcome Offset annual loss of 1-2 million acres of monarch habitat Long term goal/outcome Add 1.4 billion additional milkweed stems to attain populations in Mexico of 6 hectares Sustainability continuous maintenance and restoration

59 INTERANNUAL VARIATION In addition to habitat, let s not forget that monarch numbers in each migration are determined by a sequence of physical and biological conditions during key periods of the annual cycle.

60 INTER ANNUAL VARIATION The inter annual model we are working on shows that the number of monarchs in Mexico each winter is largely determined by the 1) number and reproductive success of monarchs reaching Texas and Oklahoma the previous spring 2) number and timing for the first generation monarchs reaching the northern breeding areas (>38 N) 3) summer temperatures.

61 Sierra Chincua Mortality resulting from sleet storm of 8-9 March 2016 Photo: I. Ramirez

62 AND ONE MORE THING, IT S MORE THAN MONARCHS --- IT S - POLLINATORS GROUND NESTING BIRDS, SMALL MAMMALS BIODIVERSITY ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE AND INTEGRITY RESPECT FOR THE SYSTEM THAT SUSTAINS US

63 Free Milkweeds for Restoration Projects

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66 Distribution of first sightings by region from May. Year Q1 Q2 Q3 Population +/_

67 RESTORATION COSTS Seed mixes (40% forbs) - $2000-$3600/acre Plug strips (10 x100 ) 800/16 species $2500 Miscellaneous costs such as site prep, signage, etc. are included in the above estimates. I 35 one plug strip/mile x 1400miles=3.5million

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69 Relationship of the total tags recovered of those tagged each year to the total hectares occupied by monarchs for the years , 2001 and 2003 omitted.

70 Relationship of the total tags recovered of those tagged each year to the total area occupied by monarchs at El Rosario for the years , 2001 and 2003 omitted.

71 Relationship of the total tags recovered of those tagged each year to the total area (hectares) occupied by monarchs for the years , estimating 50K tags for 1999 and 60K tags for 2015 with 2001, 2003 omitted.

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73 IS REDUCED MIGRATORY SUCCESS AN ALTERNATIVE TO HABITAT LOSS? the migration data from this site* argue that the declines in overwintering numbers stem more from reduced migratory success than from breeding declines Badgett and Davis 2015 *Peninsula Point, UP, MI. However, no data were offered to support this speculation.

74 >90% of overwintering monarchs originate within area indicated in red

75 HAS THE PROPORTION OF RECOVERIES DECLINED FROM ? Mean recovery rates = * = Answer = NO *Excluding 1999 due to missing tagging records and 2001 and 2003 due to catastrophic winter mortality.

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79 Relationship of the rate of recovery of tags applied each year to the total area occupied by monarchs at El Rosario for the years , estimating 50K tags for 1999 and 60K tags for 2015 with 2001, 2003 omitted.

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84 Annual Losses Within the Milkweed/Monarch Corridor Development 400,000 acres Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) - >250,000 acres Conversion to cropland - >100,000* Broadleaf control in pastures, roadsides, etc. >100,000 Other factors - unknown Total losses probably exceed 2,000,000 acres *Assumes price of corn remains below $4bu

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87 LOSS OF GRASSLANDS Cropland expansion outpaces agricultural and biofuel policies in the United States Tyler J Lark, J Meghan Salmon and Holly K Gibbs Environ. Res. Lett. 10 (2015)

88 Lark, et al 2015

89 TAGGING DATA: WHAT DOES IT TELL US ABOUT REDUCED MIGRATORY SUCCESS? 1) >90% of the monarchs reaching Mexico originate from an area* >1300 miles from the overwintering sites. 2) If mortality of migrants was higher in the last decade either in the area of origin or during the last 1000 plus miles, that mortality should be reflected in sharp declines in recovery rates in Mexico that parallel declines in the population. HOWEVER, RECOVERY RATES HAVE NOT DECLINED *longitudes 80W to 90W and north of 38N latitude

90 MONARCHS TAGGED AND RECOVERED RELATIVE TO POPULATION SIZE

91 LOSS OF MONARCH HABITAT DUE TO HT CROPS AND RFS INITIATIVE Year Corn & Soy Acreage Event million First HT Crops million Before Ethanol million* Ethanol Mandate million Conversion Continues million** Conversion Declines million more C&S in 2013 than 1996 Habitat conversion million = Indiana *5 million acre increase in 2007 alone ** million in 2015

92 MONARCH TAG DISTRIBUTION 2015, N= TAGS, >2550 ORDERS

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94 MONARCH BUTTERFLIES FROM DECLINE TO RECOVERY ORLEY R. CHIP TAYLOR DIRECTOR MONARCH WATCH UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE, KANSAS

95 MONARCHS AND POLLINATORS: SAVING THE SYSTEM THAT SUPPORTS US ORLEY R. CHIP TAYLOR DIRECTOR MONARCH WATCH UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE, KANSAS

96 MONARCHS AND POLLINATORS: WHY THEY MATTER ORLEY R. CHIP TAYLOR DIRECTOR MONARCH WATCH UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE, KANSAS

97 INTENSIVE LAND USE NEAR WANDA, MN. MONARCH/ POLLINATOR HABITAT RESTRICTED TO DRAINAGE AREAS, BUILDING SITES AND ROAD MARGINS

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99 MOWED ROADSIDES AT SW CORNER OF PREVIOUS SECTION NOTE HAY BALES

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102 SEED AVAILABILITY Milkweed seeds all species -30,000 lbs Seeding rate 1 oz (4000 seeds)/acre = 480,000 acres Seeding rate.5 oz = 960,000 acres Nectar plant seed availability unknown but certainly insufficient Bottom line lack seed to offset annual losses

103 POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS AND BARRIERS TO SUCCESS Requirements 1) Strong, centralized leadership with support from federal and state agencies. 2) A well-developed fundraising program. 3) Cooperation among federal and state agencies, NGOs and citizens. 4) Agreement on composition of seed and plug mixes for each state. 5) Support for monitoring and data assessment. 6) Publicity designed to draw attention to these efforts