News
February 16, 2017
KEYSTONE, CO, February 16, 2017 — Farmers, landowners, conservationists, businesses, and citizen groups are making steady progress promoting the conservation of monarch butterflies and expanding habitat. However, the 2016-2017 overwintering population estimate recently released by the...
January 28, 2017
Contact: Justin Fritscher
justin.fritscher@wdc.usda.gov
The monarch butterfly is a new national priority species of Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW), a partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the U.S. Fish and...
December 13, 2016
By Lynn Laws
It is an epic journey. The monarch’s annual migration over multiple generations spans from southern Canada to central Mexico. Monarch populations have been declining over the past two decades. Scientists attribute their decline to extreme climate fluctuations in...
December 08, 2016
The forecast turned cold this week, so it was all hands on deck to finish planting more than forty monarch habitat research sites across Iowa. Our team's ag specialist, Seth Appelgate, carefully planned and implemented each step of the planting process, from cleaning and mixing the habitat seed to...
November 11, 2016
Each autumn, after the monarch butterflies have departed for their migration south to Mexico, the seed pods of milkweed plants scattered across the midwestern landscape split open to reveal a bounty of seeds.
A classroom full of biology students at Ames High School recently...
November 07, 2016
Join the ISU Monarch Workgroup as an intern! Lab and field technician roles for both monarch and milkweed research are available. All levels of experience are encouraged to apply and applications will be reviewed until all roles are filled. A part-time position is available immediately...
September 15, 2016
As the days grow shorter and fall approaches, newly emerged monarch butterflies become restless. Although the bright orange- and black-winged insects currently visiting backyard flowerbeds may appear identical to those seen earlier in the summer, they are biologically different from all others. The...
September 09, 2016
This week's drizzly rain is sharing the stage with a few sunny, breezy days. Some of the milkweed plants at our team's monarch butterfly research plots are starting to die back and many of the late-season forbs are beginning to show beautiful blooms.
Our team is always on the lookout for...
August 03, 2016
By Donnelle Eller
deller@dmreg.com
Depleted monarch butterflies and honeybees could get a boost from Iowa farmers over the next few years, thanks in part to lower commodity prices that have prompted landowners to shift more than 100,000 acres of row crops into habitat for creatures...
July 26, 2016
AMES, Iowa — Nearly half of Iowa farmers say in a recent Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll that they are willing to plant monarch breeding habitat but are unsure how much land or money they would invest in the effort. Good monarch breeding habitat includes areas having milkweed for larvae and...
July 22, 2016
Milkweed is crucial to the survival of the monarch butterfly, but since the Midwest was settled and turned to agriculture a lot of the habitat has gone.
The Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium is organized by Iowa State University but involves a lot of agriculture organizations looking...
July 22, 2016
By Natasha Bures
natasha_bures@fws.gov
Monarchs have been in the news a lot lately. Overwintering populations are on the rise, but they have a long way to go before they return to the healthy numbers from decades past. You can help make a difference. Your town can join in the fight to save the...
July 11, 2016
By Dan Mika, Staff Writerdmika@amestrib.com
A coalition of researchers from Iowa State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other conservation groups are offering farmers across Iowa and the Midwest financial support to help restore the country’s monarch butterfly...
May 27, 2016
Field season is now underway and the first monarch eggs found by our research team are at the Iowa State University Sorenson Farm research plots east of Ames. On May 24, 2016, five eggs were found on small Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed) plants and six eggs were found on Asclepias syriaca (...
May 17, 2016
AMES, Iowa – With the population of monarch butterflies in North America declining sharply, there is fear that the species’ migration between Mexico and the United State could be in peril. The Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium was created by Iowa State University, farmer and commodity groups,...
May 11, 2016
GROW WITH US!
Would your organization like to join us as part of the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium? We are delighted to have a diverse group of members and partners working together on monarch conservation and we invite you to learn more about our Strategic Goals.
HOW TO JOIN...
March 31, 2016
AMES, Iowa – An Iowa State University researcher has helped carry out the scientific equivalent of gazing into a crystal ball to see what the future holds for the declining population of the monarch butterfly in North America.
Despite a favorable summer last year that helped the monarch...
March 01, 2016
AMES, Iowa — Although the number of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico has sharply rebounded, leaders of the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium, say that sustained efforts of Iowa crop and livestock farmers, landowners, conservationists and others are critical to ensuring continued...
February 19, 2016
Join the ISU Monarch Workgroup as a summer research intern! Lab and field technician roles for both monarch and milkweed research are available. All levels of experience are encouraged to apply and applications will be reviewed until all roles are filled. Summer positions are full-time - see...
February 18, 2016
Would you like to plant milkweeds to attract bees and butterflies to your landscape? Richard Jauron, horticulturalist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, explains that common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and other species may be too vigorous and weedy for beds and borders.
...
February 11, 2016
Are you suffering from cabin fever after the brisk weather these past few weeks? Meaghan Anderson, field agronomist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, isn't letting the cold temperatures dampen her spirits. She recently blogged about her efforts to seed common milkweed in order to...
October 13, 2015
AMES, Iowa — Collaborations marked efforts to increase the number of monarch butterflies as the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium got underway this year.
The consortium was created in March by farmer, rancher and conservation organizations, state agencies, companies and Iowa State...
October 07, 2015
Teresa Blader, Department of Entomology Graduate Student; Strives to answer questions about monarch habitat restoration:
Researching monarchs this summer was an adventure. It started off with great success examining monarch egg laying preference on different milkweed plant density; my...
September 30, 2015
Monarch butterflies were a hit at ‘Ag-Citing’ activities at the ISU Buena Vista County Extension program that was held September 23rd and 24th. Three hundred 4th graders from Buena Vista County visited the ISU Allee Research and Demonstration Farm just outside of Newell. Students rotated among...
September 30, 2015
Incoming Natural Resource Ecology and Management (NREM) students had a chance to learn about the monarch butterfly recently at the NREM fall mini-camp that was held at the 4-H Campground in Boone County on Saturday, September 19th. Tory Pocius, a Ph.D. student and Sue Blodgett helped the students...
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