Monarch butterfly and other pollinators are in trouble. Monarch butterfly habitat— including milkweed host plants and nectar food sources—has declined drastically throughout most of the United States. Observed overwinter population levels have also exhibited a long-term downward trend, suggesting a strong relationship between habitat loss and monarch population declines. Preliminary research results from a U.S. Geological Survey led effort indicate that we need a comprehensive conservation strategy that includes all land types in order to stabilize monarch populations at levels necessary to adequately minimize extinction risk—urban areas will likely play a critical role. This strategy reflects an integrated and interdisciplinary approach, one that includes ecological and social dimensions specific to an urban landscape. In particular, it addresses the following questions: How do we strategically design urban landscapes to benefit monarch and other pollinators? What is the current and projected contribution that urban areas can make to monarch conservation both from an ecological and a social perspective? Where shall we focus habitat work, what are the most useful projects and efforts, and where can that work serve other existing urban priorities? How do we best engage urban sectors (e.g., transportation, health, utilities) of non-traditional conservation participants? Can urban areas and the utility and transportation corridors that support them along the monarch migration corridor work as a network of stopover refugia for adult monarchs during the spring and fall migration? The project has three main products: 1) develop a Landscape Conservation Design (LCD) for the Chicago metropolitan area, and make available the factors, principles and design considerations to guide development of additional efforts; 2) develop additional city-based LCDs for Minneapolis-St. Paul, Kansas City, and Austin; 3) understand both biological and social implications of creating habitat in urban spaces.
