Monarch Watch Update -  April 19, 2004
http://www.MonarchWatch.org
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Contents:

1) New Format for Updates

2) Status of the Population

3) Monarch Watch Open House and Plant Fundraiser

4) The Western Monarch Population

5) Conditions for Monarchs Moving North

6) New Tag Policy

7) Tag Recovery Update

8) Tag Recovery Fund

9) Every Little Bit Helps

10) Status of the 2003 Recoveries

11) Conservation Perspectives

12) The European Paper Wasp

13) About Our Update List

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1) New Format for Updates

Our monthly email updates ("eNewsletters") are now in a transition period. The content delivered in these monthly communications continues to evolve and we hope you are getting a lot out of them. We realize that some of the articles are a bit too long to include in an email message, especially when there are nine or ten other topics we'd like you to see.

In an effort to make the updates more accessible and enjoyable to all of the Monarch Watchers (over 8,000 subscribers to our eNewsletter worldwide!) we are going to do a little reformatting. Our initial thoughts are to limit the content delivered via email to a paragraph or so per article; if an article requires more space than this, a link to the full text on our website will be provided. Additionally, the monthly updates will continue to be archived at

http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update

as they have always been.

We'd love to get feedback from you about this. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions please feel free to drop me a line at [log in to unmask] anytime - thanks!

-Jim

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2) Status of the Population - by Chip Taylor

It's not looking good - the monarchs do not appear to be off to a good start. The first monarchs, presumably returning migrants, to be seen interior of the Texas coast each year are usually reported in the first week of March. Monarchs were sighted in early March this year as well, but the number of reports for the last 5 weeks is far below normal for this period. Further, the number of monarchs reported from states north and east of Texas is low.

[ Read the full text of this article at http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/040419.htm#2 ]

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3) Monarch Watch Open House and Plant Fundraiser

You are cordially invited to join us on Saturday, May 15th 8am-3pm for an Open House and Plant Fund Raiser at our facilities on West Campus at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. We are located in Foley Hall (2021 Constant Avenue) near the greenhouse. Nearly 1,000 butterfly plants (both annuals and perennials) including seedlings of five species of milkweed, will be available (modest contributions are suggested). We will provide refreshments, lots of show & tell, iChat videoconferencing demonstrations, a gazebo in the greenhouse with unusual butterflies, and, of course, monarch butterflies!

We hope to see you there, but if you can't make it to Lawrence we'll have "live" photos and video for you to check out online during the day - for more information and a map visit

http://www.MonarchWatch.org/openhouse

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4) The Western Monarch Population

We have two reports from west of the Rockies this month. The first, from Sarah Stock, is on the winter population dynamics of monarchs in Monterey County, CA and the second is another account of the efforts of Goleta, CA to raise funds to secure and protect a 137 acre monarch overwintering site known as Ellwood Main (Ellwood Mesa) in the city of Goleta. The amount of funds involved, about $20.4 million dollars, is more than three times the amount used to support the efforts to conserve the overwintering sites in Mexico.

[ Read the full text of this article at http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/040419.htm#4 ]

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5) Conditions for Monarchs Moving North - by Chip Taylor

The Drought Monitor web site (http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html) shows that dry conditions predominate in most of Nebraska and the Dakotas. Incipient dry conditions appear to be developing in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, the middle portion of the New England states, as well as an area in the SE extending from Louisiana, Mississippi, the panhandle of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and part of North Carolina. The moisture conditions for the remainder of the country appear to be favorable. Of some concern are the high temperatures of March that were 5.2 degrees above normal for the entire country, the third warmest March in the past 110 years

http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/cag3/cag3.html

If this trend continues, the summer will be hot and dry and those conditions do not favor monarchs.

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6) New Tag Policy

We would like to take this opportunity to explain our newly revised Tagging Kit pricing and policies for the 2004 tagging season. In a nutshell, the 2004 Tagging Membership ($25) includes 25 tags; beyond that, additional sets of 25 tags are available for $4 each. There are no restrictions as to how many additional tags you can purchase beyond the original Tagging Membership.

Next year we will be addressing the issue of redistribution of Monarch Watch tags (via nature centers, schools, etc.) by creating specialized Tagging Kits.

[ Read the full text of this article at http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/040419.htm#6 ]

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7) Tag Recovery Update

Tag recoveries are still being received and each week brings an email with lists of tags or a letter with tags and information on where, when and from whom they were purchased. We wish to thank all those who acquired tags and have passed that information to us. If any of you know of additional tags, please report them to us soon. We are compiling our list and checking it twice and it's easier when we have all the records in place. Thus far, we have 2,377 recoveries from Mexico and about another 150 from the United States.

[ Read the full text of this article at http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/040419.htm#7 ]

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8) Tag Recovery Fund - by Chip Taylor

Last month we reported that $6,021 had been received for the tag recovery fund. An additional $825 has been received in recent weeks bringing the total to $6846.61. These funds and the $5,000 we committed from our operating budget toward the purchase of tags bring the total available for the purchase of tags to $11,846. This amount is almost an exact match for the $11,824 we actually spent on tags. This match of income and expenses is fantastic, and may be a first in the history of our program, but next year is another matter.

[ Read the full text of this article at http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/040419.htm#8 ]

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9) Every Little Bit Helps

Some of the smallest Monarch Watchers helped contribute to the tag recovery fund this year. Becky Collins' kindergarten class at David Lipscomb Elementary in Nashville, TN decided to raise money for Monarch Watch by collecting cans. They got the whole school involved and collected over 200 lbs. of aluminum cans which they turned in at a local recycling center - they were then able to contribute $74 to the Tag Recovery Fund! A big THANK YOU goes out to Becky Collins' Kindergarten Class - we appreciate all of your hard work!

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10) Status of the 2003 Recoveries

Due to the calls and e-mails we are receiving, we know that several of our taggers are anxious to hear about their recoveries. We are doing our very best to get the data entered and posted as quickly as possible. However, please keep in mind that we returned from Mexico on March 12 and it took me almost two weeks to get caught up. I am working on the 2,300 tags we brought back with us as time permits. I do hope to have them posted sometime this summer. Unfortunately, there isn't much that the public can do to help. The best thing to do is to try to remember that 2,300 recoveries in Mexico is a LOT of recoveries, so please be patient! The 2003 recoveries will be posted online as soon as possible and we will also provide progress reports in this monthly email.

Thank you for your patience!
Sarah

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11) Conservation Perspectives

"Shifting Priorities in Monarch Conservation"
By Jordi Honey-Rosés

In the last ten years the debate on Monarch butterfly conservation in Mexico has evolved considerably. In the 1990s, the discussion often pitted conservationists against the local campesinos in a struggle over how best to use or protect the forest resource. Monarch butterfly conservation in Mexico was cited to illustrate the conflict between human needs and the protection of a species habitat: where local farmers pressured to continue logging and conservationists sought permanent protection of the Monarch's habitat.

[ Read the full text of this article at http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/040419.htm#11 ]

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12) The European Paper Wasp

The European paper wasp is spreading rapidly and could significantly impact monarchs and butterfly populations in general, especially in cities. If you see this insect

http://www.myrmecos.net/images/Polistes2.html

please report it to us and we will see that the scientists that are tracking this species receive your sighting. Field studies of the impact of this caterpillar predator on butterfly populations are badly needed.

[ Read the full text of this article at http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update/040419.htm#12 ]

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13) About Our Update List

You are receiving this email because you have provided Monarch Watch with your email address at some point and expressed interest in receiving updates from us. If you do not wish to receive these periodic (probably monthly) email updates or feel that you were subscribed in error, please see the unsubscribe information below.

Have you somehow missed (or misplaced ;-) an update? Now you can find all of the updates archived online at

http://www.MonarchWatch.org/update

If you know someone that you think might be interested in receiving these email updates from Monarch Watch with monarch news, special announcements, tips on raising monarchs in your classroom, monarch tagging information and a whole lot more, please send them on over to

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to join our new Monarch-Watch-Update email list - it's easy!

Monarch Watch (http://www.MonarchWatch.org) is a not-for-profit educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas. We run a Monarch tagging program and offer Monarch Rearing Kits, Monarch Tagging Kits, and other educational/promotional materials that allow you to actively experience the monarch life cycle and its spectacular fall migration.

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Monarch Watch
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