Xerces Society

Last updated
Xerces Society
Named after Xerces blue
Formation1971;53 years ago (1971)
Founder Robert Michael Pyle [1]
Type 501(c)(3) non-profit
51-0175253
Legal statusFoundation
PurposeInvertebrate Conservation
Headquarters Portland, Oregon
Region served
United States
Official language
English
Executive Director
Scott Black
Website xerces.org
Samples of the extinct Glaucopsyche xerces butterfly in the collections of the Field Museum of Natural History Glaucopsyche xerces.jpg
Samples of the extinct Glaucopsyche xerces butterfly in the collections of the Field Museum of Natural History

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation (Xerces Society) is a non-profit environmental organization that focuses on the conservation of invertebrates considered to be essential to biological diversity and ecosystem health. It is named in honor of an extinct California butterfly, the Xerces blue (Glaucopsyche xerces). [2]

Contents

The Society collaborates with federal and state agencies including the US Department of Agriculture, as well as scientists, land managers, educators, and citizens to promote invertebrate conservation, applied research, advocacy, public outreach and education. [3] Examples of Xerces Society activities include advocating for invertebrates and their habitats, petitioning for the designation of endangered status for applicable species such as the monarch butterfly, [4] and public education projects. Ongoing projects include the rehabilitation of habitat for endangered species, public education about the importance of native pollinators, and the restoration and protection of watersheds. [5]

The organization was founded by butterfly scientist Robert Michael Pyle from Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and was reincorporated with the Oregon Secretary of State on April 14, 1988. [6]

Initiatives

Bee City USA

The Bee City USA program was started by the Xerces Society to encourage cities to encourage native pollinators by planting more native plants, providing more pollinator habitats, and limiting unnecessary pesticide spraying. [7]

Bee Campus USA

The Bee Campus USA program was started by the Xerces Society with the goal to include pollinator gardens in communities and campuses to provide habitats for local pollinators. [8]

The following colleges and universities participate in the Bee Campus USA program.

CollegeDateReference
Cal Poly Humboldt 2024 [9]
Utah State University 2023 [10]
University of Montana 2024 [11]
University of New Hampshire 2024 [12]
Indiana University Kokomo 2024 [13]
West Virginia University 2024 [14]
UC San Diego 2024 [15]
Catawba College 2024 [16]

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pollinator</span> Animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma

A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife garden</span>

A wildlife garden is an environment created with the purpose to serve as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, insects, mammals and so on, and are meant to sustain locally native flora and fauna. Other names this type of gardening goes by can vary, prominent ones being habitat, ecology, and conservation gardening.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarch butterfly</span> Milkweed butterfly in the family Nymphalidae

The monarch butterfly or simply monarch is a milkweed butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It is among the most familiar of North American butterflies and an iconic pollinator, although it is not an especially effective pollinator of milkweeds. Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 cm (3.5–4.0 in). A Müllerian mimic, the viceroy butterfly, is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hindwing.

Pesticides vary in their effects on bees. Contact pesticides are usually sprayed on plants and can kill bees when they crawl over sprayed surfaces of plants or other areas around it. Systemic pesticides, on the other hand, are usually incorporated into the soil or onto seeds and move up into the stem, leaves, nectar, and pollen of plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State University Northridge Botanic Garden</span> Botanic garden in California, US

The California State University Northridge Botanic Garden or CSUN Botanic Garden is located in the northern San Fernando Valley, in the southeast section ("quadrant") of the California State University, Northridge campus in the community of Northridge in Los Angeles, California.

<i>Asclepias syriaca</i> Species of flowering plant

Asclepias syriaca, commonly called common milkweed, butterfly flower, silkweed, silky swallow-wort, and Virginia silkweed, is a species of flowering plant. It is native to southern Canada and much of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, excluding the drier parts of the prairies. It is in the genus Asclepias, the milkweeds. It grows in sandy soils as well as other kinds of soils in sunny areas.

<i>Asclepias incarnata</i> Species of flowering plant

Asclepias incarnata, the swamp milkweed, rose milkweed, rose milkflower, swamp silkweed, or white Indian hemp, is a herbaceous perennial plant species native to North America. It grows in damp through wet soils and also is cultivated as a garden plant for its flowers, which attract butterflies and other pollinators with nectar. Like most other milkweeds, it has latex containing toxic chemicals, a characteristic that repels insects and other herbivorous animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butterfly gardening</span> Gardening to benefit butterflies

Butterfly gardening is a way to create, improve, and maintain habitat for lepidopterans including butterflies, skippers, and moths. Butterflies have four distinct life stages—egg, larva, chrysalis, and adult. In order to support and sustain butterfly populations, an ideal butterfly garden contains habitat for each life stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender's blue butterfly</span> Endangered subspecies of Boisduvals blue

Fender's blue butterfly is a subspecies of Boisduval's blue endemic to the Willamette Valley of northwestern Oregon, United States. The potential range of the butterfly extends from south and west of Portland, OR to south of Eugene, OR. The butterfly is host-specific on the Kincaid's lupine, which it relies on for reproduction and growth. The male and female can be identified by their difference in wing color. The Fender's Blue Butterfly was added to the endangered species list in January 2000, but as of February of 2023, has been reclassified as "threatened". The Fender's blue butterfly population has increased over the past 20 years and projected to increase more through conservation efforts. In Willamette Valley, Oregon, there are currently 90 sites filled with Fender's blue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miami blue</span> Subspecies of butterfly

The Miami blue is a small butterfly that is native to coastal areas of southern Florida. It is a subspecies of Thomas's blue. Once common throughout its range, it has become critically endangered, and is considered to be near extinction. Its numbers have recently been increased by a captive breeding program at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrtle's silverspot</span> Subspecies of butterfly

Myrtle's silverspot is a medium-sized butterfly in the brush foot family (Nymphalidae), an endangered subspecies of the zerene fritillary. It is endemic to California, where it is known from only about four locations just north of the San Francisco Bay Area, including two at Point Reyes National Seashore. Its wingspan is approximately 2.2 inches (56 mm). The upper surfaces of the wings are golden brown with numerous black spots and lines. The undersides are brown, orange and tan with black lines and silver and black spots. Larvae are dark colored with many sharp branching spines on their backs. Myrtle's silverspot is larger and paler than the closely related Behrens' silverspot, which is now limited to the vicinity of Point Arena in Mendocino County. Myrtle's silverspot is also closely related to the Oregon silverspot.

<i>Asclepias speciosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Asclepias speciosa is a milky-sapped perennial plant in the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), known commonly as the showy milkweed and is found in the western half of North America.

The Pollinator Partnership or P2 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with its headquarters in San Francisco, California that works to protect the health of managed and native pollinating animals that are vital to wildland and agricultural ecosystems. The Pollinator Partnership’s mission of environmental stewardship and pollinator protection is achieved through conservation, policy, education, and research. Signature initiatives include the NAPPC, National Pollinator Week, and EcoRegional Planting Guides that allow local citizens to plant gardens that provide habitats for important pollinating species.

<i>Bombus occidentalis</i> Species of bee

Bombus occidentalis, the western bumblebee, is one of around 30 bumblebee species present in the western United States and western Canada. A recent review of all of its close relatives worldwide appears to have confirmed its status as a separate species.

<i>Asclepias viridis</i> Species of plant

Asclepias viridis is a species of milkweed, a plant in the dogbane family known by the common names green milkweed, green antelopehorn and spider milkweed. The Latin word viridis means green. The plant is native to the midwestern, south central and southeastern United States, as well as to the southeastern portion of the western United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarch butterfly migration</span> Migrations, mainly across North America

Monarch butterfly migration is the phenomenon, mainly across North America, where the subspecies Danaus plexippus plexippus migrates each autumn to overwintering sites on the West Coast of California or mountainous sites in Central Mexico. Other populations from around the world perform minor migrations or none at all. This massive movement of butterflies has been recognized as "one of the most spectacular natural phenomena in the world".

The U.S. state of California has instituted numerous conservation programs, policies, laws, reserves and Habitat restoration projects throughout the state to facilitate the health and migration of the western population of the monarch butterfly. The population of western monarchs require very different breeding and overwintering habitat when compared to the eastern population of monarch butterflies. They require specific micro-climatic conditions to survive the winter and they are sensitive to habitat changes at the overwintering sites. The large aggregations of butterflies are seen as the most vulnerable at their overwintering locations along the coast. Many monarch overwintering sites are contained within the "coastal zone"; an area defined by the Coastal Zone Management Act to be 1000 yards inland from the high tide mark. Large number of overwintering sites are outside the coastal zone. There are more than 450 overwintering sites in California.

<i>Bombus crotchii</i> North American bee species

Bombus crotchii, commonly called Crotch's bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee named after the entomologist George Robert Crotch. It is classified as endangered due to the impacts of pesticides, climate change, and human development.

Beyond Toxics is a nonprofit environmental justice organization based in Eugene, Oregon. Dedicated to ending environmental threats to vulnerable communities, Beyond Toxics supports environmental quality, protection, and justice across the state. It focuses largely on reducing air pollution, decreasing pesticide use, and advocating for climate justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pollinator garden</span> Type of garden

A pollinator garden is a type of garden designed with the intent of growing specific nectar and pollen-producing plants, in a way that attracts pollinating insects known as pollinators. Pollinators aid in the production of one out of every three bites of food consumed by humans, and pollinator gardens are a way to offer support for these species. In order for a garden to be considered a pollinator garden, it should provide various nectar producing flowers, shelter or shelter-providing plants for pollinators, and avoid the use of pesticides.

References

  1. "Distinguished Washington Environmental Writer to Speak at CWU". Central Washington University . Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  2. Hunter, Dave; Lightner, Jill (2016). Mason Bee Revolution: How the Hardest Working Bee Can Save the World – One Backyard at a Time. Mountaineers Books. ISBN   9781594859649.
  3. "Donate". The Xerces Society For Invertebrate Conservation. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  4. "Monarch Petition" (PDF). Xerces Society For Invertebrate Conservation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-22. Retrieved 2014-08-28.
  5. Cassandra Profita (June 20, 2013). "Xerces Society: Wilsonville Bees Died From Pesticide Poisoning". EarthFix. Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  6. "The Xerces Society". Left Exposed. 2015-10-13. Archived from the original on 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  7. "Bee City USA Commitments". Bee City USA. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  8. "Bee Campus USA Commitments". Bee City USA. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  9. "Cal Poly Humboldt Becomes an Affiliate of Bee Campus USA | Humboldt NOW | Cal Poly Humboldt". now.humboldt.edu. 2024-06-24. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  10. "Utah State University Becomes an Affiliate of Bee Campus USA". Utah State TODAY. 6 October 2023.
  11. Christian, Peter ChristianPeter (2024-06-13). "University of Montana Creates Buzz Around Pollinator Week". Newstalk KGVO. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  12. Abrusci, Emily (2024-08-08). "The path to UNH's new Bee Campus Certification". Sustainability. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  13. "Campus sustainability efforts earn distinction, grants". news.iu.edu. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  14. "WVU Today | Building buzz, WVU becomes first new Bee Campus USA affiliate of 2024". wvutoday.wvu.edu. 2024-01-25. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  15. "UC San Diego Is Now a Bee Campus. Here's What that Means…". today.ucsd.edu. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  16. "Bee Campus". Catawba College. Retrieved 2024-09-06.