Monarch Breed Successfully Along Noisy Roadsides

[Paul Cherubini]

Some monarch enthusiasts and conservation organizations seem to think that in the summer western monarchs breed in pretty, silent, peaceful mountain meadows and in wildlife refuges. Example: The Xerces Society advises the public to: "Help protect small natural areas that support milkweed patches."

In reality, western monarchs commonly breed in highly disturbed, noisy habitats bustling with human activity such as along roadsides just feet away from 18 wheel semi-trucks, along railway lines just feet away from passing locomotives and along the margins of agricultural crops.

Yesturday I took a couple videos of two roadside speciosa milkweed habitats about 50 miles east of Sacramento, California in the Sierra foothills.

Here is one of the roadside patches at 2,450 feet elevation (about 3 miles east of the town of Somerset) where I was able to find four healthy monarch chrysalids next to the passing traffic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLgBYvUFSiM

Here is another small roadside clump of speciosa at 1,750 feet elevation, along busy Mt. Aukum Road
(one mile south of the town of Somerset, Calif.) where I found a newly emerged monarch clinging to its empty chrysalis shell right next to passing traffic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1zS2jtcABI

Here is another view of the same butterfly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu61vuj-E70

The take home lesson here is that breeding (and overwintering) habitats that look aesthetically
unappealing to humans can nevertheless be highly productive ones for the butterflies.

[Mona Miller]

What are you talking about? This is not new. Who are you criticizing now? Every one knows that Monarchs breed along highways. We are not here to start an argument. No controversy here. And, I've seen you post this again here and there. Man, you are wearing out our patience. We are serious about conservation on this list. And, you are definitely wasting our time with your nonsense.

I contacted a gas pipeline company recently to ask them to postpone mowing until later in October because Monarchs are breeding and nectaring in that area--so far they haven't mowed the area.

I remember you posting about a highway area in CA being sprayed with herbicide on another list, but you didn't even take the time to find out what was going on. Someone else had to do that. So, what is your story. Do you just like to post controversy and have people argue about it or are you going to take some action and get something done?

What have you done other than posting pictures and video that show your take on the subject?

[Mona Miller]

This was recently posted to the Western Monarch List serve in response to the same post that Paul made There:

'Pollinator Conservation: Roadsides http://www.xerces.org/pollinator-conser ... roadsides/
With more than 10 million acres of land in roadsides in the United States alone, transportation rights-of-way are a significant, yet often overlooked, resource for pollinator conservation. In landscapes denuded of natural areas by large scale agriculture or urbanization, roadsides are an increasingly important component of regional habitat networks. They frequently support native vegetation, providing refuge for wildlife and connecting fragmented habitat. The wildlife living on roadsides touches communities in every state, province, and county of North America.
Pollinators and Roadsides: Managing Roadsides for Bees and Butterflies
http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/upload ... ciety1.pdf
provides a concise overview of the conservation potential of roadside habitat and offers practical information on how to maximize the value of these areas for pollinators while meeting basic traffic safety requirements.
These guidelines synthesize the previous study of native bees in roadside rights-of-way conducted by Jennifer Hopwood, Xerces Society’s Midwest pollinator outreach coordinator. Jennifer’s research demonstrated that bees were twice as abundant on roadsides with native prairie vegetation than on those dominated by nonnative plants, and that native roadsides supported a third more bee species than roadsides with nonnative plants.
These findings are reinforced by studies from North America and Europe that consistently show that roadsides have a role to play in conserving bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects. Pollinators and Roadsides draws on these studies, as well as the experience of roadside managers, to identify ways in which current maintenance practices can be adapted to benefit pollinators."

- Show quoted text -
On Fri, Sep 17, 2010 at 10:58 AM, Paul Cherubini <monarch@saber.net> wrote:
Some monarch enthusiasts and conservation organizations
seem to think that in the summer western monarch breed in
pretty, silent, peaceful mountain meadows and in wildlife refuges.
Example: The Xerces Society advises the public to: "Help
protect small natural areas that support milkweed patches."
In reality, western monarchs commonly breed in highly
disturbed, noisy habitats bustling with human activity
such as along roadsides just feet away from 18 wheel
semi-trucks, along railway lines just feet away from
passing locomotives and along the margins of agricultural
crops.
Yesturday I took a couple videos of two roadside speciosa
milkweed habitats about 50 miles east of Sacramento
in the Sierra foothills.
Here is one of the roadside patches at 2,450 feet elevation
(about 3 miles east of the town of Somerset) where I
was able to find four healthy monarch chrysalids
next to the passing traffic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLgBYvUFSiM
Here is another small roadside clump of speciosa
at 1,750 feet elevation, along busy Mt. Aukum Road
(one mile south of the town of Somerset, Calif.) where
I found a newly emerged monarch clinging to its
empty chrysalis shell right next to passing traffic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1zS2jtcABI
Here is another view of the same butterfly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu61vuj-E70
The take home lesson here is that breeding
(and overwintering) habitats that look aesthetically
unappealing to humans can nevertheless be highly
productive ones for the butterflies.
Paul Cherubini
El Dorado, Calif.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Mader
Assistant Pollinator Program Director
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Tel: 503-232-6639 Fax: 503-233-6794
Email: eric@xerces.org
Assistant Professor of Extension
University of Minnesota - Department of Entomology
Email: made0002@umn.edu"

[rbtbob]

I have been searching for milkweeds locally here in N.E. Alabama and my best find so far has been on the largest road in my area which has a power line right of way on it. I'm not sure if it is the location or the fact that it is cut from time to time, which keeps the area not quite as over-grown as others, but the fact that it is a busy highway does not detract from but seems to add to the success of the area.

[Mona Miller]

I have been searching for milkweeds locally here in N.E. Alabama and my best find so far has been on the largest road in my area which has a power line right of way on it. I'm not sure if it is the location or the fact that it is cut from time to time, which keeps the area not quite as over-grown as others, but the fact that it is a busy highway does not detract from but seems to add to the success of the area.

I contacted a gas pipeline company to ask them to not mow. The area is also located adjacent to a soccer field, busy sidewalk and 4 lane road. Other than it getting mow at the wrong time, it seems to be productive.

Get the name of the company, which is usually posted on the yellow/orange posts and call them. Ask them not to mow the area so that the Monarchs will have a place to nectar and breed. I sent them the link on the Monarch Joint Venture.

http://www.monarchjointventure.org/
"The monarch migration is one of nature’s most spectacular events. North American monarchs travel up to an astonishing 3,000 miles in an annual migration from their summer breeding habitat to overwintering grounds.
The Monarch Joint Venture is a partnership of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academic programs that are working together to support and coordinate efforts to protect the monarch migration across the lower 48 United States. The MJV is committed to a science-based approach to monarch conservation work, guided by the North American Monarch Conservation Plan (2008).
The monarch migration was listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as an endangered phenomenon in 1983. In 2010, the World Wildlife Fund included monarchs on its list of the “Top 10 to Watch” in 2010: species that are thought to be in need of close monitoring and protection."

[blazing star]

Unfortunately, road side milkweed populations are dwindling. This is evident, Paul, in your GM Crop photos. People that own that type of land don't care about the native plant populations that are getting pushed out due to their lack of land stewardship in those areas. Around here, there are still plenty of roadside milkweed patches but the buckthorn, teasel and lonicera are all closing in. Without management, these populations of milkweed will be extinct in short order. That's why it remains very important to continue to protect milkweed stands in managed habitat. Also, having semis and other vehicles driving by monarchs isn't such a great idea for the butterfly's longevity.

[Paul Cherubini]

Unfortunately, road side milkweed populations are dwindling. This is evident, Paul, in your GM Crop photos.

As I've said before, the GM crop margins / roadsides are not sprayed with herbicide so the milkweed continues to be common. I have witnessed this first hand and documented it via photographing the same GM crop margins / roadsides in southern Minnesota periodically for several years:
2003 photo: http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae78/18R-C/mor03.jpg
2006 photo: http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae78 ... mori06.jpg
2009 photo: http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae78 ... mori09.jpg

[blazing star]

We have roadside milkweed here, too. My point is that farmers, GMO or not, don't practice good stewardship of their roadside land. Farmer's roadside lots are becoming loaded with invasive species that will eventually push all milkweed out making all of your photos obsolete and your advocating GMO crops for monarchs obsolete.