[Pollinator] Western monarch population rebounds to final tally of nearly 250, 000 butterflies

[Matthew Shepherd]

Hi everyone,

We're announcing today the results of the Western Monarch Thanksgiving
Count: nearly 250,000 monarchs recorded at overwintering sites! See links
and information below for all the details.

Matthew



*See our blog about the announcement here:*
https://xerces.org/blog/western-monarch-thanksgiving-count-tallies-nearly-250000-butterflies

*Press release here:*
https://xerces.org/press/western-monarchs-rebound-to-final-tally-of-nearly-250000-butterflies

*Western monarch population rebounds to final tally of nearly 250,000
butterflies*

PORTLAND, Ore.; Tuesday, January 25, 2022 – For decades, the Western
Monarch Thanksgiving Count has been cataloging the rapid decline of one of
North America’s most enigmatic butterflies. In a surprising and remarkable
outcome, this winter brought a final tally of 247,237 monarch butterflies
observed across the West, an over 100-fold increase from the previous
year’s total of less than 2,000 monarchs and the highest total since 2016.

“We’re ecstatic with the results and hope this trend continues,” says Emma
Pelton, the Western Monarch Lead with the Xerces Society. “There are so
many environmental factors at play across their range that there’s no
single cause or definitive answer for this year’s uptick, but hopefully it
means we still have time to protect this species.”


*Overwintering sites skew south*Santa Barbara County reported the most
monarchs this year at over 95,000, including the largest single site where
more than 25,000 butterflies were counted on a private property. San Luis
Obispo County came in a close second with over 90,000 butterflies reported
at overwintering sites, including the Pismo Beach Butterfly Sanctuary
managed by California State Parks, which had the second highest count at an
overwintering site this season at 20,871 butterflies.

Typically, California’s central coast hosts the majority of monarchs, as
well as a significant number in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, Bay
Area sites had few or no monarchs this year, with fewer than 600
butterflies counted at overwintering sites stretching from Mendocino to San
Mateo counties.

More monarchs were found starting near Santa Cruz, with over 1,000 at both
Natural Bridges State Park and Moran Lake. And in Monterey County, the City
of Pacific Grove celebrated the return of approximately 14,000 monarchs to
their sanctuary. In Ventura and Los Angeles counties, monarchs were found
in numbers unseen since the early 2000s, totaling nearly 19,500 and over
4,000 butterflies, respectively.

Thanks to public tips, this season also included the discovery of five new
roosting locations in San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles counties, totaling
over 7,000 butterflies.

These totals were observed thanks to a record-high volunteer effort to
survey 283 overwintering sites. Supported by regional coordinators,
volunteers seek out and record clusters of monarchs as they huddle together
for winter warmth.

“I actually had more volunteer counters this year than I have in the last
10 years, because there are so many people who care about monarchs and want
to help,” says Jessica Griffiths, the volunteer regional coordinator in San
Luis Obispo County. “They were out there at the crack of dawn in the cold,
scanning the trees with binoculars. Some of the newer volunteers saw
monarch clusters at their sites for the first time this year, which was
really exciting.”


*Rebound offers a ray of hope to ward off extinction*While the 2021 tallies
are worth celebrating, western monarchs have undergone a significant
decline, losing more than 95% of their population since the 1980s.

“This year’s total is a step in the right direction, but still indicates a
severe population decline,” says Isis Howard, Endangered Species
Conservation Biologist for the Xerces Society. “Now more than ever, we have
an opportunity to double-down on our conservation efforts. Acting quickly
to harness the momentum of this upswing is our best chance at preventing
western monarchs and other at-risk butterflies from being lost forever.”

Key actions to aid the recovery of western monarchs include protecting
their existing habitat and overwintering sites, reducing pesticide use and
restoring new habitat by planting nectar plants and native milkweed in the
appropriate locations of their range, as outlined in the Xerces Society’s
Western Monarch Call to Action.

“Insects can be amazingly resilient if we give them a chance,” says Xerces
Director Scott Hoffman Black. “Everyone has a role to play, whether that’s
adding pollinator plants and avoiding pesticides in your home garden, or
advocating for monarch-friendly policies within our neighborhoods, public
lands and plant nursery and agriculture providers.”

The following organizations support western monarch conservation through
the Xerces Society:

Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Fish and Wildlife,
California State Parks Foundation, California Wildlife Conservation Board,
Chantecaille, Google.org, Forest Service International Programs, The Marion
R. Weber Family Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Natural
Resources Conservation Service, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, The
Taggart Saxon Schubert Fund, and US Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as
Xerces Society members.

###

ABOUT THE WESTERN MONARCH COUNT

The Western Monarch Count is an annual effort of volunteer community
scientists to collect data on the status of the western monarch population
during their overwintering season, which occurs from approximately October
through March. Observations stretch along the Pacific coast from Mendocino,
California to Northern Baja, Mexico, plus a few inland sites in California
and Arizona. The height of this volunteer effort occurs during the Western
Monarch Thanksgiving Count, which runs for three weeks surrounding the
Thanksgiving holiday. It began as a concerted effort in 1997 by Mia Monroe,
Dennis Frey and David Marriott. Today, the count is coordinated by Xerces
Society for Invertebrate Conservation and Mia Monroe.

ABOUT THE XERCES SOCIETY FOR INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation protects the natural world
by conserving invertebrates and their habitat. Established in 1971, the
Society is a trusted source for science-based information and advice and
plays a leading role in protecting pollinators and many other
invertebrates. The Xerces Society has been active in monarch and pollinator
conservation in California for decades. Xerces' work has contributed to the
restoration of monarch overwintering sites, expanding pollinator habitat on
farms and distributing more than 100,000 pollinator plants to California
residents through the Xerces habitat kit program. To learn more, visit
xerces.org or follow us @xercessociety on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.


________


*Matthew Shepherd*
Director of Outreach & Education
*he/him/his*


*Protecting the Life that Sustains Us*

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