Thursday, August 15, 2019: 10:30 AM
L007/008, Kentucky International Convention Center
Cris G. Hochwender, Biology, University of Evanville, Evansville, IN, Anna Jean Stratman, Environmental Studies, University of Evansville, Evansville, IN and Julie Rabe, Environmental Science, University of Evansville, Evansville, IN
Background/Question/Methods: The University of Evansville has developed ChangeLab, a semester-long course in which students create positive change in the community. Monarchs and milkweeds are an ideal system to engage the public because monarch populations are in decline and most people value monarch butterflies. Flagship species can generate public support for conservation goals beyond the needs of the specific species. Previously, two student researchers carried out a summer project examining oviposition preference of
Danaus plexipus on local species of
Asclepias in Southwest Indiana. Four native species in the study included:
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
, A. tuberosa (butterfly milkweed)
, A. perennis (thin-leaf milkweed), and
A. syriaca (common milkweed)
. These plants included 58 swamp milkweeds, 38 butterfly milkweeds, 29 thin-leaf milkweeds, and 67 common milkweeds. Oviposition preference was tested using chi-squared. Using the results from the study, one of the student researchers created the Monarchs and Milkweed ChangeLab, which engaged a group of six additional student advocates, to: (1) educate the local Evansville community about native plants and monarchs; (2) distribute and grow native varieties of milkweed to facilitate monarch regeneration on their annual migration, and (3) increase native plant and ecological awareness in the community.
Results/Conclusions: The experimental component of this project demonstrated oviposition preference by monarch butterflies in Southern Indiana. Monarchs preferred swamp milkweed, with over 90% of the plants receiving eggs. Still, over 50% of all species in the experiment were chosen by monarchs suggesting that monarchs use all four local species of milkweed to rear offspring. Using this information, the Monarchs and Milkweed ChangeLab team grew more than a thousand swamp milkweed, butterfly milkweed, and common milkweed plants. These milkweeds were given to people as the ‘hook’ to bring people to one of four events, two at State Nature Preserves, one at a local environmental meeting, and one at the University of Evansville’s Earth-day Birthday. In addition, educational events were connected to establishing native plant gardens at schools. At these events, the students advocated growing milkweeds to provide food for monarchs. While encouraging the public to grow more milkweeds, the students also offered native seed packets to gardeners interested in growing other native plants species. By educating the local public about monarchs and their host plants, the team created an innovative solution to the challenge of declining native plant diversity in Southwest Indiana.
