Much of what we know about monarch biology is due to the amazing efforts of community scientists! Community science (sometimes referred to as “participatory science” or “citizen science”) is a form of research that provides everyone—regardless of their background—an opportunity to contribute meaningful data to further our scientific understanding of key issues. By engaging community members, researchers can collect a larger amount of data, and often span more geographic regions, in a shorter amount of time. In turn, the data collected informs larger conservation efforts. It’s also a great opportunity for participants to learn more about species that interest them. It’s a win-win situation for all of us—including invertebrates!
In addition to the Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper, the Xerces Society has a few complementary projects:
- Western Monarch Count: Estimating monarch clusters at California overwintering sites and surveying overwintering habitat.
- Monarch Nectar Database: documenting the plants monarchs nectar on across the U.S.
- The Xerces Society also hosts additional community science programs focusing on invertebrates like fireflies and bumble bees!
Photos (from left to right): Emma Pelton/Xerces Society, Tony Frates/flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, Linda Kappen, Emma Pelton/Xerces Society, and Emma Pelton/Xerces Society.
International Monarch Monitoring Blitz
The International Monarch Monitoring Blitz aims to provide a valuable snapshot for scientists of the monarch population status across the butterfly’s migratory paths in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Each summer, the Blitz invites people across North America to look for milkweed plants and survey them for monarch eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflies. This information will help researchers identify priority areas for monarch conservation actions. Data gathered during the Blitz is uploaded to the Trinational Monarch Knowledge Network, where it is accessible for anyone to consult and download.
Rearing Monarchs
Rearing monarchs is not a conservation strategy for the species. However, captive rearing a few (<10) monarchs for education can be a great opportunity to see their life cycles up-close (although watching them in the wild is even better!). If you are rearing monarchs for community science projects such as tagging, monitoring parasites, or OE levels, you should still keep the numbers of butterflies you raise low. Never buy, ship, or move monarchs long distances. To learn more about this issue, read the blog “Keep Monarchs Wild!” and Monarch Joint Venture’s hand out “Rearing Monarchs: Why or Why Not?”.
