Written By
We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are ready to participate in the eighth edition of the International Monarch Monitoring Blitz. The Monarch Blitz provides a unique opportunity for individuals and organizations in Canada, Mexico and the United States to join forces across international borders to safeguard this iconic North American species.
For a 10-day period, the Monarch Blitz invites people from across North America to report monarch butterfly sightings, to find milkweed plants, and look for monarch eggs, caterpillars and chrysalises. Anyone can take part by simply going outdoors and sharing your monarch and milkweed observations with one of the participating community science programs.
Since monarch butterflies and milkweed populations cover such an extensive portion of North America, the participation of volunteer community scientists is key for furthering our understanding of these species. As the climate changes, the range of monarchs and milkweed will be impacted, highlighting the need for gathering and analyzing robust, long-term data in order to better understand population and habitat trends.
“We are proud to join thousands of volunteers across North America to gather crucial data on monarch populations and milkweed plants,” said Nicole Alt the Service’s Center for Pollinator Conservation director. “Monarch and pollinator conservation takes all of us, and we know we need more habitat. The information shared will support targeting conservation where it is most needed for monarchs.”
Last year, close to 4,000 observations were collected, raising awareness about monarch conservation and collecting valuable breeding productivity data across North America. Observations submitted by volunteers help identify priority areas for monarch conservation and guide conservation actions. The data collected during the Monarch Blitz will be made available for anyone to download via the Trinational Monarch Knowledge Network, which features data from various sources and helps researchers perform large-scale analyses considering time and space.
The Monarch Blitz is the only coordinated North America-wide effort to capture a snapshot of the monarch and milkweed summer distribution. This information is crucial to help the scientific community understand and measure the reproductive success of the monarch breeding population as well as long-term population trends. This information is particularly important right now, given that the eastern migratory monarch population was at the second-lowest level ever observed in Mexico, covering an area of 0.90 hectares according to the Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas. This low population size is a stark reminder that North America has to continue to conserve and restore monarch butterfly breeding and migratory habitat to ensure the long-term health of the species.
With the conservation of the monarch butterfly gaining momentum across North America, now is the time for communities to go out into nature and take part in this initiative! To take part in the Monarch Blitz, please share your observations through one of the participating community science programs:
United States:
- Journey North
- Monarch Larva Monitoring Project
- iNaturalist
- Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper
Canada:
- Mission Monarch
- iNaturalist Canada
Mexico:
- Naturalista
- Correo Real Program
Follow the Monarch Blitz and share your participation in this international conservation effort on social media by using the hashtag #MonarchBlitz!
The Monarch Blitz is organized by the Trinational Monarch Conservation Science Partnership, a collaboration of organizations, including the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Montréal Space for Life, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, Journey North, the Monarch Joint Venture, PROFAUNA A.C., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
