Abstract
South Central US milkweeds (Asclepias) are critical adult nectar and larval food resources for producing the first spring and last summer/fall generations of declining eastern migratory monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus). This study addresses multiple gaps in assessment of monarch conservation priorities for the South Central US through analyses of monarch larval host selectivity, phenology, and spatial density, as well as the phenology, niche modeled distribution, and land cover selectivity of important milkweed hosts. Results are synthesized to estimate seasonal milkweed resource areas. About 70% of monarch larval activity occurred from mid-March to mid-July (early season) and 30% from mid-August to late November (late season). Twenty-six wild milkweed (Apocynaceae) hosts were mapped, including four new records for North America. Important hosts included Asclepias a. ssp. capricornu, A. viridis, and A. oenotheroides, that were utilized more frequently during early season, and Asclepias latifolia, utilized more frequently during late season. Landscape host selectivity was positive for A. viridis and A. a. ssp. capricornu in late and early seasons, respectively, and negative for A. oenotheroides in late season. Milkweed land cover selectivity was positive for Developed-Open Space and Grassland Herbaceous, and negative for Cultivated Crops and Shrub/Scrub. Seasonal milkweed resource areas and larval spatial densities resolved interior and coastal corridors providing functional connectivity for monarch spring and fall migrations. A potential gap in milkweed resource areas was identified in South Texas. The novel merging of milkweed niche models with larval phenology, host selectivity, milkweed phenology, and land cover selectivity informs conservation assessment.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Karen Oberhauser (Monarch Larva Monitoring Project) and Elizabeth Howard (Journey North) for contributing monarch larval occurrence and host data, and to Mark Fishbein (OSU) for assistance with Apocynaceae image species identifications. We thank Mike Quinn (TPWD retired), Michelle Bowe (SMS), Thomas Labedz (NEB), Todd Fagin (Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory), Janice Bush (UTSA), and David Berman (OSU) for providing milkweed occurrence data. We appreciate Cole Mandrona (TAMU) and Thomas Robbins (USDA-ARS, retired) for assessing online imagery associated with iNaturalist milkweed data. We thank Jason Singhurst (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department) and Kristina Chyn (Texas AgriLife Research) for reviewing earlier versions of this manuscript, and anonymous reviewers for suggestions that improved the manuscript. This research was funded by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Economic Growth and Endangered Species Management Division, Interagency Contract No. 16-5979.
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This research was funded by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Economic Growth and Endangered Species Management Division, Interagency Contract No. 16-5979.
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Planning for the study involved all authors, including JLT, TK, KAB, and RNC. JLT developed the analysis framework and methodology, assembled some of the species occurrence data, and performed some of the niche model analysis, all the weekly phenology, landscape host selectivity, and seasonal larval spatial density analysis, and most of the land cover selectivity analysis. TK also assembled species occurrence data and carried out some of the niche model and land cover selectivity analyses. JLT led the writing with TK, KAB, and RNC assisting. All authors gave approval for the final revision and are accountable for all aspects of the work.
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Tracy, J.L., Kantola, T., Baum, K.A. et al. Distribution and phenology of monarch butterfly larvae and their milkweed hosts in the South Central US. Biodivers Conserv 31, 1797–1827 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02432-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02432-7