The influence of population declines on genomic diversity in monarch butterflies.project period:09 16 2024 - 07 31 2026 award purpose - north american monarch butterflies are a charismatic pollinator,…

The influence of population declines on genomic diversity in monarch butterflies.project period:09 16 2024 - 07 31 2026 award purpose - north american monarch butterflies are a charismatic pollinator, in part, because of their unique long-distance migration and formation of large clusters of individuals at winter roosting sites. The marked declines experienced by monarch butterflies across north america ( 95% since the 1990S) prompted concerns about the persistence of the unique behavioral segments of the species and capacity of the species to respond to current and emerging threats. The effective population size (and thereby retention of genomic diversity) of species underlies a populations capacity to adapt and respond to changes in the environment in both current and future conditions. Evaluation of the impact that the decline has on the effective population size of monarchs, therefore, is needed to inform resiliency and population persistence forecasts under projected future conditions. The proposed study will help our partners in conservation better prioritize management actions to maximize the benefits monarch butterflies. Activities to be performed - collection of whole genome data from monarch butterflies (total number depending on the availability in museum collections and successful acquisition of tissue loans). Effective population size and accompanying diversity metrics will be estimated using coalescent based (e.g. dadi) and frequentist (e.g. neestimator) approaches. Genomic diversity metrics (e.g., runs of homozygosity, nucleotide diversity). Deliverables and expected outcomes -final report (august 2026)data will be accessioned on genbank, which is a NIH genetic sequence database with an annotated collection of all publicly available DNA sequences. Intended beneficiary(IES) -U.S. Fish and wildlife service (USFWS).nebraska game and parks commission (ngpc). Subrecipient activities, if known or specified at the time of award -none