Overwintering Microclimate Selection of Western Monarch Butterlies

The summary for the Overwintering Microclimate Selection of Western Monarch Butterlies grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Fish and Wildlife Service, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Overwintering Microclimate Selection of Western Monarch Butterlies: Western monarch butterflies have declined by approximately 75% over the last two decades (Pelton et al. 2016), and the species is undergoing a status review for potential listing under the Endangered Species Act. A long-term demographic model indicates the western monarch population has a 72% probability of quasi-extinction over 20 years (Schultz et al. in review). To protect, manage, and restore overwintering sites, land managers need to understand the microclimate attributes that are important for monarchs. An understanding of these attributes can be used to guide: range wide Habitat Management Plans, Site Management Plans, and in case of listing, a Species Recovery Plan, and a definition of critical habitat. Grove managers need a comprehensive, unbiased, prescriptive, and comparative method for grove management decision-making across the overwintering range of western monarchs. This study will create a quantitative diagnostic tool for assessing microclimate conditions at individual groves, and provide land managers with tools for prescriptive habitat management decision-making that leads to microclimate modifications via the modification of microhabitat features.