The monarchs’ arrival to their traditional overwintering sites in Mexico this year was not typical. Reports from Estela Romero indicate that the arrival is late this year with fewer monarchs arriving at El Rosario and Sierra Chincua. “Monarch butterflies have had a delayed arrival this fall, not starting to show significant numbers until after Nov. 8-10.” (see Journey North news at https://journeynorth.org/news). At Chincua as of Nov 23, Estela reports that only one colony, located in a rather open spot (i.e., few trees), was small but well defined. At Rosario, she noted that no colony had formed yet (only “two poorly populated clusters and a few tiny ones hanging from 2-3 trees”) although there were many monarchs flying around - certainly not the extraordinary numbers we’d expect at this time. El Rosario tour guides inform us that there are three spots where butterflies are congregating, and they think three colonies will form there. In spite of the slow arrival, the amazing view of thousands of monarchs arriving to these forests from so far away continues to be awe-inspiring.
Other MBF news covered in this issue include:
- Summer Reforestation: 45,918 Trees Planted! - Six indigenous communities and four ejidos in and around the MBBR reforested almost 105 hectares with 45,918 seedlings! Almost 1000 people (children and adults) tended these seedlings in nurseries and actively participated in planting.
- Alternare Workshops in 2024 - Alternare continues its commitment to conservation and restoration of the environment alongside comprehensive community development with 138 workshops held in 15 indigenous communities and ejidos in the region, benefiting 1,196 people.
- Monarch Butterfly Flight Challenge - D. Andre Green II and colleagues have, among other achievements, documented the movement of a tagged monarch from one overwintering colony to another. Documenting inter-colony movement is new and shows that we’re learning about colony behavior as well as migratory behavior.
- Bark Beetle Management Strategies - Dr. Erika Gómez Pineda and colleagues analyze forest soil samples in areas of sanitation (logging) to determine if this pest management strategy may be contributing to the degradation of the oyamel forest within the Reserve.
- Overwintering Sites for the Future - Dr. Cuauhtémoc Sáenz-Romero from Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo and colleagues have published new results from their assisted migration studies in the Frontiers journal.
- Nurse Plants Improve Survival of Oyamels in Reforestation Study - Dr. Ana Gabriela Zacarías-Correa continues her evaluation of survival and growth of shrubs planted in ‘assisted migration’ sites within the MBBR’s core zone.
- Extreme Drought in Michoacan Ends - As this year's wet season arrived, local reporter Estela Romero shared welcomed news that they received abundant rainfall, and by August, recovery was happening. See drought maps from Mexico.
- Measuring Forest Health with Drones - Ambiomas collects another season of flight images measuring tree vigor using NDVI to document changes in forest density and tree vigor and identify critical conservation and restoration sites within the MBBR.
- Workshops for MBBR Tour Guides - Dr. Ek del Val de Gortari brings updated field guides and workshops to tour guides in the region. Workshop participants stated that they were very much in need of this kind of information to be able to provide more comprehensive guided tours and talk about the different inhabitants of the forest. The updated field guides may be downloaded from our Publications page on our website.
- Beyond the Mexico Book Project - Ms Estela Romero presents environmental lessons on soil at Macheros Community, reaching 100 students.
- Reporting from the Monarch Region - Ms Romero also continues to report updates on the overwintering monarchs via the Journey North newsletters.
- 2024 Lincoln Brower Awards Updates - Three new graduate students share preliminary results of their research funded by the LPB Awards Grant Program.
- Heartfelt Thanks to MBF Champions - Two new businesses join our MBF Champions program, #TeamPlanting and Sunny Mist. Thank you MBF Champions!
- Remembering Norma Grigs - MBF is honored to receive donations in memory of individuals for whom monarch conservation was a passion. Monarchs lost an important friend this year when Norma Grigs of Parker CO died at the age of 96. Thank you, Norma, for your passionate support of monarch conservation.
Download the full newsletter to read more.