Characterizing New Wintering Sites for Monarch Butterfly Colonies in Sierra Nevada, Mexico
Pérez-Miranda R, Arriola-Padilla VJ, Romero-Sanchez ME. Insects, June 2020.
Read the paper Free to read · doi:10.3390/insects11060384
What this paper is about
Almost all eastern monarchs winter in a small area of oyamel fir forest in Michoacan and Mexico state, and that forest is shrinking.
Over the last decade colonies have been predicted and reported outside the usual range. This study gathered the historical and newly reported sites in the Sierra Nevada and characterised them.
Summarised here from the abstract below. Not the authors’ words.
Abstract
Every year, Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758) travels to hibernate in oyamel fir forests located between the limits of the states of Michoacán and Mexico in Mexico. Climate change and anthropogenic actions are diminishing oyamel fir forests in Mexico, putting pressure on the habitats of monarch butterflies. In the last decade, new colonies outside their usual range have been predicted through modeling and reported by the National Commission on Protected Areas of Mexico. The objectives of the study were to recover information on the historical and new hibernation sites, reported or modeled, from different literature sources. We also aimed to perform a bioclimatic and forest biometric characterization of new monarch butterfly colonies located in Sierra Nevada in Mexico to provide information to aid in conservation strategies for the monarch butterfly population. We conducted field trips to georeference the colonies at sites located in the Atlautla municipality in Mexico State. Climatic, topographic, and forest biometric variables were used to characterize the sites physically. It was found that the butterfly's roosts occurred at a higher elevation than those recorded by other sources. The locations where the monarch's colonies were established, in the east of Mexico State, provide information relevant to defining and developing policies for their conservation.
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Milkweed USA. (2026). Characterizing New Wintering Sites for Monarch Butterfly Colonies in Sierra Nevada, Mexico (listing). Retrieved DATE, from https://milkweedusa.com/research/characterizing-new-wintering-sites-for-monarch-butterfly-colonies-in-2020/
"Characterizing New Wintering Sites for Monarch Butterfly Colonies in Sierra Nevada, Mexico (listing)." Milkweed USA, 2026, https://milkweedusa.com/research/characterizing-new-wintering-sites-for-monarch-butterfly-colonies-in-2020/. Accessed DATE.
Milkweed USA. "Characterizing New Wintering Sites for Monarch Butterfly Colonies in Sierra Nevada, Mexico (listing)." Last modified 2026-08-01. Accessed DATE. https://milkweedusa.com/research/characterizing-new-wintering-sites-for-monarch-butterfly-colonies-in-2020/.
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title = {Characterizing New Wintering Sites for Monarch Butterfly Colonies in Sierra Nevada, Mexico (listing)},
author = {{Milkweed USA}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://milkweedusa.com/research/characterizing-new-wintering-sites-for-monarch-butterfly-colonies-in-2020/},
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