Monarch Watch is a volunteer-based

citizen science Citizen science (CS) (similar to community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is scientific research conducted with participation from the public (who are sometimes re ...

organization that tracks the fall migration of the

monarch butterfly The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (''Danaus plexippus'') is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It ...

. It is self-described as "a nonprofit education, conservation, and research program based at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

that focuses on the monarch butterfly, its habitat, and its spectacular fall

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

Organization

The informal organization is largely supported by teachers and students participating in "classroom projects, collaborative research" among other opportunities. Its founder and director is Orley R. "Chip" Taylor, a "world-renowned expert on butterflies and their migration patterns." The organization creates and distributes tags to place on monarch butterflies in order to track their migration path from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to south-central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The tagging method used is derived from the one that was developed by

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

scientist,

Fred Urquhart Frederick Albert Urquhart, (December 13, 1911 – November 3, 2002) was a Canadians, Canadian zoologist and professor of zoology who studied the migration of Monarch butterfly, monarch butterflies, ''Danaus plexippus'' L. Together with his w ...

. The tagging process was adapted by Orley Taylor to minimize the damage to the butterflies. Color-coded tags are glued to a monarch butterfly's wing. Volunteers have tagged over 1.5 million monarchs in the last 26 years from Colorado to Canada.

Monarch Waystation Program

The monarch butterfly is also known as the milkweed butterfly due to its subsistence on the milkweed plant for its habitat. Largely due to commercial farming practices, the habitats of monarch butterflies have declined. In an effort to mitigate the destruction of the monarch butterflies natural habitat, Monarch Watch has called for volunteers to plant milkweed wherever possible. Milkweed is essential to the life-cycle of the monarch butterfly as they lay their eggs on the underside of the plant's leaves. It is possible to register and certify a site that is designated as a "Monarch Waystation." These sites can also be added to an interactive map that is monitored by Monarch Watch. The program also offers free milkweed plugs to people that engage in the creation of habitats for monarchs and pollinators. Primary consideration is given to non-profits and schools. There is an application process to receive the milkweed from Monarch Watch.

Bring Back the Monarchs Campaign

Monarch Watch is not only focused on tracking the fall migration of monarchs, but also on the

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

of the monarch butterfly through the preservation and restoration of monarch habitats. The destruction of habitats has negatively affected the monarch butterfly population as well as that of other

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s. Habitat shrinkage has resulted in the extinction of several species of pollinators over the last 50 years. The monarch butterfly is also affected by parasites and the "declining winter habitat in Mexico." Monarch Watch's efforts in this arena are specifically referred to at the "Bring Back the Monarchs Campaign." The Bring Back the Monarchs Campaign is an offshoot of the Monarch Waystation Program.

Milkweed Market

Beyond offering free

milkweed ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans ...

plugs, Monarch Watch also offers a shop by which an individual can purchase milkweed for the purpose of creating monarch habitats. The milkweed species offered to the buyer is contingent on the buyer's zip code, in an effort to ensure that only native milkweed is planted in the appropriate regional areas.

References

{{reflist Butterfly organizations Nature conservation organizations based in the United States Animal migration + * Habitat Philosophy of biology Nature conservation organizations based in Canada Nature conservation in Mexico