Recognizing that sound science is key to effective conservation, we support scientific research, including habitat and species assessments, with direct relevance to conservation in the overwintering sites. Our research funding supports scientists studying ecology and the conservation of monarchs in Mexico.
2021
Monarch Butterfly Flight Challenge
Thanks to your support, the Monarch Butterfly Flight Challenge, an initiative launched by MBF in 2017, is achieving amazing results. With initial funding from MBF, Dr. André Green and a group of engineers and biologists from the University of Michigan are developing a remarkable system for determining the daily flight path of migrating monarchs. This group has made a tiny solar-powered sensor – so small that it is only one-tenth the weight of an adult monarch and equal to the weight of a flake of uncooked oatmeal – and when a sensor is attached to the back (dorsal thorax) of a butterfly, it records time, temperature, and light each day wherever the butterfly is located. Thus, when a sensor-bearing monarch is in range of a detector at the end of the migration, the data from the monarch’s migratory path can be downloaded and its location determined for each day.
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Photos by Martin Vloet, University of Michigan. Credit Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
We are excited about what this system can tell us about monarch migration and its implications for improving our conservation efforts, and we are delighted that the Flight Challenge spurred development of this new technology.
Monitoring Restoration of Illegally Logged Area in S. Chincua (2021)
Dr. Arnulfo Blanco García and his students continued with their seed-scattering experiments to monitor natural regeneration in a 10-hectare area that was illegally logged. They made two field visits, in January and March, to verify the functionality of the perimeter fence and to check the seed traps that were previously installed. The fence was deemed adequate since no evidence was found of damage by livestock. Regarding the seed traps, a larger number of oyamel seeds were found in the traps placed in the forest compared to those placed in the logged areas. This year, production of cones and oyamel seeds increased significantly, but only in the forested areas.
These observations suggest that even in years when there are lots of seeds in the forest, the seed dispersal process is seriously compromised in logged areas. To increase sites that foster germination, Dr. García and his team are evaluating the possibility of manually dispersing oyamel seeds and preparing soil accordingly. Another option is to reforest part of the logged area since the natural regeneration process is slow. MBF will continue supporting this important research to seek optimal alternatives for the restoration of the forest. Below some photos of items found in the seed traps. The environmental newspaper Mongabay (link is in Spanish) recently published an article describing the experiments along with the assisted migration experiments by Dr.Cuauhtémoc Saénz that we describe below.
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Oyamel seeds on moss |
Oyamel seeds/monarch remains |
Assisted Migration (2021)
Dr. Cuauhtémoc Sáenz Romero, his colleagues and students continue their experiments of reciprocal transplants of oyamel (Abies religiosa) at contrasting elevations. One and a half years after the current part of their experiment started, the sites where most of the seedlings were planted at a higher elevations than where they originated, i.e., 3400 m, continued to show very good survival rates (98% on average). Those planted at 2600 m, in a site chosen to mimic a warmer climate (between 2°C to 4 °C higher than the one where the seedlings originated), showed an average 30% survival rate.
A dry and warm March-May season 2021 is expected due to “La Niña” weather pattern in the Pacific creating conditions for forest fires. The drought experienced in November 2020 – April 2021, caused a massive oyamel seedling mortality of 94 % at the low altitude site (2600 m). This indicates that an increment of only +2 °C, combined with a very dry winter-spring season, crosses a critical threshold that young oyamels seedlings simply cannot tolerate. The+ 2 °C increment was achieved by planting at a lower altitude than the sites where the seedlings originated to imitate future climate change scenarios. In sharp contrast, seedlings planted at a higher altitude than their seed origin, had only a 2 % mortality on a site with 3400 m altitude. These results suggest the need to reforest at progressively higher altitudes, to compensate the effects of climatic change, A new site with altitudes well beyond the upper altitudinal natural distribution limit of the species was established at Nevado de Toluca (videos below)
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Assisted Migration Videos