Monarch Habitat in Conservation Grasslands

Lukens, Laura; Kasten, Kyle; Stenoien, Carl; Cariveau, Alison B.; Caldwell, Wendy; Oberhauser, Karen S.

doi:10.3389/fevo.2020.00013

Cited by 19 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This puts the impacts of recent land use change on the same order of magnitude as the widespread extirpation of milkweed caused by GMO crop development and associated pesticide use over the last two decades-historically considered the pre-eminent threat to Monarchs 53,54 . Our results embody significant uncertainty, however, and recent field surveys suggest that milkweed concentrations on many types of grasslands prone to conversion may be even greater than estimated here 27 (see Supplementary Note 1).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 44%

“…4a; Supplementary Figs. 12-13; Supplementary Note 1), which harbor greater densities of milkweed stems per acre than pasture, hayland, and other noncrop uses 16,26,27 . On average, natural land converted to cropland contained an estimated 53.7 (±46.0) stems per acre prior to conversion, which is 3.4 times greater than the 15.6 (±10.4) stems per acre on all existing natural lands in the region (Fig.…”

Section: Cropland Expansionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cropland expansion in the United States produces marginal yields at high costs to wildlife

et al. 2020

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Recent expansion of croplands in the United States has caused widespread conversion of grasslands and other ecosystems with largely unknown consequences for agricultural production and the environment. Here we assess annual land use change 2008–16 and its impacts on crop yields and wildlife habitat. We find that croplands have expanded at a rate of over one million acres per year, and that 69.5% of new cropland areas produced yields below the national average, with a mean yield deficit of 6.5%. Observed conversion infringed upon high-quality habitat that, relative to unconverted land, had provided over three times higher milkweed stem densities in the Monarch butterfly Midwest summer breeding range and 37% more nesting opportunities per acre for waterfowl in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Northern Great Plains. Our findings demonstrate a pervasive pattern of encroachment into areas that are increasingly marginal for production, but highly significant for wildlife, and suggest that such tradeoffs may be further amplified by future cropland expansion.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 44%

Section: Cropland Expansionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cropland expansion in the United States produces marginal yields at high costs to wildlife

et al. 2020

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“…We excluded Asclepias verticillata from milkweed and monarch metrics (except for Table1) followingLukens et al (2020) and …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape- and local- level variables affect monarchs in Midwest grasslands

Bruce

Thogmartin

Trosen

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Context It is estimated that over one billion milkweed stems need to be restored to sustain the eastern North American migratory population of monarch butterflies; where and in what context the stems should be placed on the landscape is key to addressing habitat deficits. Objectives We assessed how the amount of appropriate habitat surrounding a particular patch of monarch habitat affects monarch presence and reproduction. To ensure that habitat restoration efforts are targeted towards areas that maximize monarch population growth, it is important to understand the effects of landscape heterogeneity on monarch occurrence in habitat patches (i.e. grasslands with milkweeds) across the landscape. Methods Over two summers (2018-2019), we surveyed monarch adults, larvae, and eggs at sixty grassland sites in Wisconsin that varied in patch size and landscape context (proportion grassland, forest edge density, and road density). We also estimated milkweed density and floral richness to characterize local patch quality. Results Adult monarch abundance was highest at patches with the lowest proportion of surrounding grassland and lowest road density, and was heavily influenced by patch quality variables. Egg and larva density in a patch increased with milkweed density and floral richness within a patch. Patch size was unrelated to monarch abundance. Conclusions These 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.

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“…For example, North American AV systems with solar-pollinator habitat may not effectively work to conserve populations of monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) -a candidate species for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act -without the onsite establishment of milkweed (Genus Asclepias), the larval host plant (Lukens et al, 2020).…”

Section: Data Gaps and Research Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities for agrivoltaic systems to achieve synergistic food-energy-environmental needs and address sustainability goals

Walston

Barley

Bhandari

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Achieving decarbonization goals to address global climate change and increasing energy needs requires significant continued investments in solar energy. The expansion of utility-scale solar development across the globe has increased the pressure on land resources for energy generation and other land uses (e.g., agriculture, biodiversity conservation). To address this growing issue, greater emphasis has been placed on solar development strategies that maximize the benefits of solar energy generation and multiple ecosystem services, such as the development of agrivoltaics systems that co-locate solar energy production and various forms of conservation and agricultural land uses. The purpose of this paper is to systematically synthesize the potential ecosystem services of agrivoltaics and summarize how these development strategies could address several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our review will focus on four broad potential ecosystem services of agrivoltaics: (1) energy and economic benefits; (2) agricultural provisioning services of food production and animal husbandry; (3) biodiversity conservation; and (4) regulating ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and water and soil conservation. In particular, we will highlight the state of the science, challenges, and knowledge gaps that represent opportunities for further study to better understand how solar energy deployment can facilitate sustainable development.

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Monarch Habitat in Conservation Grasslands

Cited by 19 publications

References 43 publications

Cropland expansion in the United States produces marginal yields at high costs to wildlife

Cropland expansion in the United States produces marginal yields at high costs to wildlife

Landscape- and local- level variables affect monarchs in Midwest grasslands

Opportunities for agrivoltaic systems to achieve synergistic food-energy-environmental needs and address sustainability goals

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