Conservation Strategy for the Eastern Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) in Iowa: version 2/Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium.

(2018) Conservation Strategy for the Eastern Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) in Iowa: version 2/Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium. Agriculture and Land Stewardship

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Abstract

The Iowa Monarch Conservation Strategy identifies the information and resources needed to sustain and advance monarch butterfly conservation efforts in Iowa. The eastern monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) population has experienced an 80% decline over the past two decades. Causes for the population decline include loss of milkweed habitat in the spring and summer breeding ranges of the United States, loss of overwintering habitat in Mexico, and extreme weather events. Iowa is in the center of the monarch’s summer breeding range, and roughly 40 percent of all monarch butterflies that overwinter in Mexico are estimated to come from Iowa and neighboring states in the Midwest. Since monarch caterpillars need milkweed to survive, one of the primary goals of conservation efforts is to establish milkweed as part of healthy natural ecosystems. Expanding monarch habitat in Iowa will play a major role in the recovery of the species. The strategy will guide the development, implementation and documentation of a voluntary, statewide conservation effort based on the best available science. The strategy includes information about the monarch butterfly, including a summary of its history , its population distribution, and its dependence on milkweed and other native plants; Iowa’s current habitat availability and habitat goal; and the types of conservation measures needed to support recovery of the population. The strategy also provides a roadmap for supporting the conservation effort through administration, information management, monitoring, and research and outreach. As conservation efforts progress, mechanisms will be in place to distribute information so successes are replicated throughout Iowa and beyond. The strategy also describes immediate conservation measures that can be undertaken. These include using resources in farm bill programs to establish monarch breeding habitat; volunteering to establish monarch habitat on farms in consortium-sponsored demonstration projects; using monarch -friendly weed management in ditches, roadsides and other rights-of-way; and establishing monarch waystations with native nectar plants and milkweeds in home and community gardens. The Iowa Monarch Conservation Strategy will be a living document that incorporates new knowledge and accomplishments over time to provide the means to identify and quantify an active voluntary, conservation program, which in combination with regional and national efforts, results in the recovery of the species population.