Events and Activities : MONARCHS!!

MLMP Workshop Wednesday, May 26 6:30 9 pm Izaak Walton League, Vinton, Iowa The World Wildlife Fund has included the monarch butterfly on its list of the Ten to Watch in 2010 largely due to the multiple threats to the migration phenomenon. Habitat destruction in the overwintering forests of Mexico has been compounded with the huge loss of milkweed in the North American agricultural belt due largely to Round-up Ready farming, which kills milkweed along with other weeds in farm fields. Add climate change to the mix, and we really dont know the total impact. However, data from the The Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP), which began collecting data from citizen scientists in 1997 at the University of Minnesota, provides a baseline of information about summer monarch populations that is being used to help determine the extent of change. MLMP involves citizens in collecting data on monarch eggs, larvae, and adults during the summer reproduction. All that an interested person needs is an area where you can monitor milkweed. Online data entry makes your information available to anyone almost instantly. Find out how you can become participate in this interesting research at your own site on your own schedule with training in identification and methods. Information collected through this monitoring program will help to explain the distribution and abundance patterns of monarch butterflies in North America at times other than migration. MLMP training will be held at the Izaac Walton League north of Vinton off of Hwy 150 from 6:30 9 pm on May 26. Benton and Buchanan County Conservation Naturalists will have monarch larvae and eggs, milkweed species common to our area, and information on sampling methods used in the monitoring. Please register by calling 319-560-9809 or email Karen at bccnaturalist@gmail.com