Grasslands provide important habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators in the southern Great Plains. The main objective of this project was to provide baseline data for assessing the contribution of grassland management practices to monarch/pollinator habitat. Specific objectives included 1) Developing protocols for evaluating habitat restoration effectiveness and monarch/pollinator population use, 2) Implementing the protocols, 3) Evaluating and revising protocols based on data collected during protocol implementation, and 4) Developing translational science, outreach and communication of project products. The focus of the project has shifted over time with the finalization of the Integrated Monarch Monitoring Program (IMMP). Surveys were conducted over four years to evaluate temporal variation in pollinator habitat, as well as the relationship among metrics. Milkweed species richness was higher when estimated from transects compared to quadrats. Milkweed density tended to be higher when estimated from quadrats compared to transects, although which approach provides the most accurate site level estimate is unclear. The relationship between forb species richness and blooming forb species richness varied across sites and years, and one metric can likely not be used to predict the other. Patterns in monarch/pollinator habitat varied across years, emphasizing the importance of surveying sites over multiple years. Additional research is needed to identify the factors driving the observed patterns, to separate the impact of abiotic factors (e.g., precipitation, temperature) from management practices, and to identify the approach that provides the most accurate site level information for important monarch/pollinator habitat metrics.
