Iowa monarch conservation, pest management and crop production

Abstract

<p>The monarch butterfly population has experienced an 80% decline in North America over the past two decades (Brower et al., 2012; Pleasants and Oberhauser, 2013; Jepsen et al., 2015). The three to four hectares of occupied overwintering forest in 2016 and 2015 was well below a target of six hectares needed to support a resilient population and reduce the risk of quasi-extinction (loss of the North American migration) in the next 10 to 20 years (Semmens et al., 2016). In response to a petition to evaluate the status of the species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is evaluating listing the monarch as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (USFWS, 2014 a, b). Under a court-supervised schedule, the USFWS must propose a listing decision in June 2019, which underscores the urgency of establishing viable, voluntary, state-based monarch conservation programs to provide USFWS a credible rationale to not list the species. If the monarch butterfly is listed, it could lead to significant regulatory andmanagement burdens for farmers and livestock producers.</p>