Conservation status and ecology of the monarch butterfly in the United States

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This differs from others because 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, which migrates from as far north as southern Canada to central Mexico each fall, and a smaller, western population, which largely migrates to coastal California to spend 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 fewer widespread threats, was categorized as “vulnerable to imperiled.” This report 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.

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ELECTRONIC FILE - BOTANY: OTHER; ELECTRONIC FILE - Zoology: Invertebrates

Full Citation: Jepsen, S., D. F. Schweitzer, B. Young, N. Sears, M. Ormes, and S. H. Black. 2015. Conservation Status and Ecology of the Monarch Butterfly in the United States. Prepared for the U.S. Forest Service by NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia, and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Portland, Oregon. 36 pp.

SWAP (2/19/16) citation (with page numbers changed to match number in actual document): Jepsen S, Schweitzer DF, Young B, Sears N, Ormes M, Black SH. 2015. Conservation status and ecology of the monarch butterfly in the United States. Arlington (VA): NatureServe. 28 p. Jointly published with The Xerces Society, Portland (OR). [accessed 2016 Jan 25]. http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NatureServe-Xerces_mona....

Additional information: Funding for the report was provided by the U. S. Forest Service. Additional funding for Xerces staff times was provided by the Bay and Paul Foundations, Endangered Species Chocolate, and the Turner Foundation, Inc.