California’s Western Monarch Migration utterly collapsed in 2021 and is facing imminent elimination. Here is an article regarding Stu and Dan Gluesenkamp’s effort to coordinate a desperate rescue operation that may help Western monarchs recover to some extent from the 99+% decline that they’ve suffered since the 1980s. Time is of the essence because, as Stu says, “given the low numbers of Western monarchs this year, there will be zero chance of saving this population in the future if we don’t act now.”
Archive for the ‘Climate Change’ Category
Monarch Head Start: Rescuing the Western Monarch Migration
In Climate Change, Monarchs, Networking, Rare species, Stewardship on August 13, 2021 at 3:41 pmThink Big, Connect More
In Climate Change, Networking, Rare species, Research, Stewardship on January 6, 2020 at 3:56 pm
In November 2019, more than 125 members of the conservation community gathered at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for the official launch of the Bay Area Conservation Lands Network 2.0 Science Expansion. CLN 2.0 inventories, synthesizes, and projects forward the impressive collective efforts that have made the Bay Area a world leader in conservation, and provides that information to the greater conservation community and public at large.
Since 2006, Chief Scientist Stu Weiss has served as Science Adviser on this visionary project, bringing to bear scientific and GIS skills and his deep knowledge and love of Bay Area biogeography to the question “Which lands should be protected and stewarded to conserve the rich and irreplaceable biodiversity of the 10 Bay Area counties in an era of rapid environmental change?” The CLN 2.0 team led by Tom Robinson and supported by the expertise of more than 100 volunteer scientists and practitioners, pored over hundreds of data sources – biogeography of flora and fauna, physical geography of landforms, climate, and hydrology, and human geography of development, laws, and institutions. Those data were prioritized and synthesized into a network design.
The broad answer is 2.5 million acres conserved by 2050, half of the region (Think Big). CLN 2.0 builds off the currently protected 1.4 million acres to further encompass rare and irreplaceable ecosystems and the species they support, vast expanses of more common flora and fauna, and ensuring connectivity across the mountain ranges and valleys of the Bay Area (Connect More).
For the full report (full of beautiful photos, many taken by Stu), online access to data via the CLN 2.0 Explorer, and to download an organized GIS project, go to www.bayarealands.org
The Bay Checkerspot Butterfly Returns to San Bruno Mountain!
In Bay Checkerspot, Climate Change, Nitrogen Deposition, Recognition and Media, Research, Restoration, Stewardship, Topoclimatic Studies on March 6, 2017 at 3:55 pmThe federally threatened Bay checkerspot butterfly was extirpated from San Bruno 
Mountain in the mid 1980s. On March 2 and 3 2017, Creekside Science biologists collected 3630 caterpillars from Coyote Ridge in San Jose and released them on the main ridge of San Bruno Mountain. The larvae immediately started munching English plantain, a non-native used by other closely related checkerspot populations. The cool coastal environment, robust perennial hostplant, and extensive habitat are encouraging aspects of this project. This project may show that we can reintroduce extirpated species without the technical challenges and expense of restoring all historical conditions.
Find the very hungry caterpillar!
Many thanks to the Disney Butterfly Conservation Initiative, US Fish and Wildlife Service, San Mateo County Parks and Recreation, and SF Bay Wildlife Society for financial and professional support.
Reintroduction high above San Francisco International Airport. Bay checkerspot flight #1 will depart in late March!
Fine-scale modeling of bristlecone pine treeline position in the Great Basin, USA
In Climate Change, Research, Topoclimatic Studies on January 10, 2017 at 11:01 amA multi-year collaboration between Western Washington University (Andrew Bunn, Jamis Bruening, Tyler Tran), The Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at University of Arizona (Matthew Salzer) and Creekside Science (Stu Weiss, Jimmy Quenelle) culminates with the publication of this paper!
bruening_2017_environ-_res-_lett-_12_014008
It was an honor to work with this dedicated team over time and over diverse terrain, from various lab locations to the AGU conference in San Francisco to the peaks, ridges and canyons of the Sierra, White Mountains and Snake Range.
Congratulations to Jamis and Tyler for recently earning their Master’s Degrees
from Western Washington University for their work on this project! Enjoy the paper!
Creekside Center for Earth Observation 