[Pollinator] New report about status of monarch butterflies in North America

[Richard Johnstone]

Matt,
The report fails to note the importance of converting the 12 million acres of utility rights-of-way to pollinator habitat through the use of integrated vegetation management techniques, see attached paper I shared with the White House Task Force.
Rick

> On Mar 10, 2015, at 5:00 PM, Matthew Shepherd <mdshepherd at xerces.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone,
>  
> We just wanted to let you all know that a new report about the monarch butterfly is now available. The report was prepared for the U.S. Forest Service by NatureServe and the Xerces Society.  
>  
> The thing that marks this report from others is that it includes a newly completed assessment that found that monarch butterflies in North America are vulnerable to extinction. The assessment was done using NatureServe’s conservation sta­tus assessment methodology, which has been successfully applied to hundreds of species of animals. 
>  
> Using data on population abundance, trends, and threats, it was determined that while the monarch butterfly species as a whole, Danaus plexippus, is apparently secure, the subspecies occurring in North America, Danaus plexippus plexippus, is vulnerable to extinction. Under the assessment, the North American monarchs were split into an eastern population that migrates from as far north as southern Canada to central Mexico each fall, and a smaller western population, that largely migrates to coastal California to spend the winter. The eastern monarch population was assessed as “critically imperiled” due to recent rapid decline and widespread threats. The western population, with a slightly slower rate of decline and less widespread threats, was categorized as “vulnerable to imperiled.”
>  
> The report, Conservation Status and Ecology of the Monarch Butterfly in the United States, summarizes the monarch’s North American distribution, life history, pop­ulation, current conservation status, and potential causes of decline. In addition, it includes a set of breeding and overwintering habitat management recommendations. This report aims to inform gov­ernment agencies charged with biodiversity protection, as well as conservation organizations and the public in general, about the threats to and current conservation status of this much-loved, iconic insect.
>  
> Download Conservation Status and Ecology of the Monarch Butterfly in the United States at http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NatureServe-Xerces_monarchs_USFS-final.pdf <http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NatureServe-Xerces_monarchs_USFS-final.pdf>.
>  
> Matthew
>  
> ________
>  
> Matthew Shepherd, Communications Director
>  
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