Look up! Help science!

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Look up! Help science!

New Zealanders are being urged to look up while they’re outdoors, and help science this winter. The Monarch Butterfly New Zealand Trust needs the help of New Zealanders, young and old.

“Several large clusters of Monarch butterflies have been sighted in tree-tops around the country so far,” says Jacqui Knight, secretary of the trust.

She said that Monarch butterflies are beginning to show signs of their overwintering behaviour – gathering together in tall trees particularly in parks and on golf courses.

And thanks to the efforts of trust members around the countryside, hundreds of these Monarchs have had small white coded tags applied to their hind-wings.

“It is hoped we can learn where these Monarchs hide out for the winter,” Jacqui said. “In the spring they will return to people’s gardens to mate and breed, and begin the new generation of butterflies which graces our gardens each summer.”

While visiting New Zealand this summer, Dr Barrie Frost, from Queen’s University in Toronto, Canada, spoke highly of the efforts of NZ’s ‘citizen scientists’ who have been contributing to the study.

Dr Frost is a visual neuroscientist who has pioneered research into how our brains see and hear, and how animals like monarch butterflies and seabirds navigate amazing distances. He spoke at the conference of the Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust.

The Trust has involved ‘citizen scientists’ for three years now – schoolchildren, householders, gardeners, walkers – to report sightings as the Monarchs follow their annual migration. A degree is not needed; anyone can take part.
Dr Frost said that if we are to conserve species effectively, it is vital we monitor how they are faring.

“The status of our flora and fauna depends on the effects of climate change, pollution, alien species and land management,” he said. “We need to know more about our insects to predict the impacts of such change, and to develop an appropriate response.”

Butterflies are uniquely placed to act as indicators of environmental change.

“By tagging and following Monarchs, we can use them as indicators of the status of our environment here in NZ,” agreed Dr Mark Hauber, who works in the field of Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour at the University of Auckland’s Biological Sciences.

“Tagging serves a dual purpose,” he said. “Not simply by collecting critical data, but also by introducing people to the method and purpose of scientific investigation.”

The butterflies typically form large clusters, sometimes containing hundreds or thousands of butterflies, on trees in well-sheltered areas during the colder winter months.

Until the Trust started tracking Monarchs there was little research being done as to why butterflies appeared to be retreating from urban areas of NZ.

“This is important,” says Jacqui. “Butterflies are pollinators – we need to know why they are becoming less common, before they disappear altogether. Already there are major concerns for NZ’s endemic Forest Ringlet, and the beautiful Red Admiral.”

“People can help by looking into the tree-tops when they see what looks like pale orange paper fluttering about evergreens. The Monarchs can be hard to see as when their wings are closed they look just like leaves. But they’re very much alive!”

Then it is a simple matter of logging the information in to a website custom-built for the purpose – www.mb.orgnz.

The Trust is keen to involve gardeners, nature-lovers, trampers, schools, and home-schooled children in both tagging and sighting. All the information needed to register and how to play your part is on the Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust website: www.monarch.org.nz.

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