PARENT SESSION
Symposium 15: The bringing together of professional ecologists and educators with citizen science
Organized by: KA Yee and P Marra
Wednesday, August 10, 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM, Meeting Room 517 C, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
The Monarch Larva Monitoring Project: Ensuring quality data collection that meets scientific muster.
Oberhauser, Karen1, Prysby , Michelle*,1, 1 University of Minnesota - St. Paul, St. Paul, MN
ABSTRACT- The Monarch Larval Monitoring Project (MLMP) is a citizen science project that engages volunteers in a long-term study of monarch butterfly populations and milkweed habitat. The project has received internal, non-government and National Science Foundation funding. Its main goal is to document spatial and temporal variation, with some activities aimed at understanding the mechanisms behind observed variation. Volunteers monitor monarch egg and larval densities weekly throughout the breeding season. They also measure milkweed density and condition, record plant characteristics, and collect and rear larvae to estimate parasitism rates. From 1997 to 2004, volunteers and participating scientists have monitored approximately 350 sites in 33 states and provinces. There is significant year-year variation in egg densities, with 1998 and 2002-2004 being lower population density years; regional differences in monarch densities; and significant fall reproduction in the southern US. These data are being used to construct and validate monarch population models and to complement other long-term monarch population records, providing a more complete understanding of fluctuations in monarch populations. In addition to its scientific outcomes, this project raises public awareness of monarch ecology and conservation and provides an important educational opportunity for students, teachers and the general public. Data quality is ensured by a number of means. Many volunteers are trained in workshops conducted by project staff or by participants in train-the-trainer workshops. For these volunteers and those who do not receive formal training, there are clear instructions on a project website and a database of trainers throughout the US that are available for consultation with volunteers. The structure of the program does not allow observations of individual monitors to ensure that they are following the protocol and correctly identifying plants and monarchs, but knowledge of normal patterns allows us to interview volunteers whose data seem suspect. We communicate regularly with volunteers, both formally with an annual newsletter and e-mail updates, and informally in response to their questions. In all of these communications we stress the importance of accurate data collection, and review protocols.
Key words: Danaus plexippus, citizen science, monarch butterflies, insect population dynamics