Dramatic recent declines in the size of monarch butterfly (<i>Danaus plexippus</i>) roosts during fall migration.

ABSTRACT: The conservation status of monarch butterflies in North America is a topic of intense scrutiny and debate. It is clear that winter colonies in Mexico are declining, yet some recent studies suggest that summer breeding populations are relatively stable and similar to historical abundances. One possible explanation for these discordant patterns is that fall migration success has been recently disrupted. Here, we use a relatively unexplored citizen-scientist dataset on the size of monarch "roosts," which are resting aggregations on vegetation, to infer changes in monarch abundance along the fall migration route over the last 17 y. We found that the timing of migration remained relatively unchanged while the flyway has generally become warmer and greener. Warmer and greener conditions were ass

SUBMITTER: Davis AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11513899 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature