Monarch Butterfly patch and landscape data for Wisconsin, 2018-2019
Dates
Start Date
2018-06-01
End Date
2019-08-09
Citation
Bruce, A.S., Thogmartin, W.E., Trosen, C., Oberhauser, K., and Gratton, C., 2021, Monarch Butterfly patch and landscape data for Wisconsin, 2018-2019: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BERZ62.
Summary
To ensure habitat restoration efforts are targeted towards areas maximizing monarch population growth, it is important to understand the effects of landscape heterogeneity on monarch occurrence in habitat patches (i.e. grasslands with milkweeds). Over two summers (2018-2019), monarch adults, larvae, and eggs were surveyed at sixty grassland sites in Wisconsin varying in patch size and landscape context. Milkweed density and floral richness were also estimated to characterize local patch quality. Results suggest that optimal sites for monarch habitat restoration are within landscapes with less surrounding habitat and that high milkweed density and floral richness should be conservation goals.
Summary
To ensure habitat restoration efforts are targeted towards areas maximizing monarch population growth, it is important to understand the effects of landscape heterogeneity on monarch occurrence in habitat patches (i.e. grasslands with milkweeds). Over two summers (2018-2019), monarch adults, larvae, and eggs were surveyed at sixty grassland sites in Wisconsin varying in patch size and landscape context. Milkweed density and floral richness were also estimated to characterize local patch quality. Results suggest that optimal sites for monarch habitat restoration are within landscapes with less surrounding habitat and that high milkweed density and floral richness should be conservation goals.
The data were collected to inform landscape and patch relations of the eastern migratory population of monarch butterflies, to aid in the formulation of management strategies for recovery of the species to former levels of abundance.
