 |
The Migratory Dragonfly Partnership (MDP), a collaboration of dragonfly experts, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, and federal agencies across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, was formed in 2010 with the goal of better understanding and conserving North America’s dragonfly migration. North America may have as many as sixteen migratory dragonfly species, with some engaging in annual seasonal migrations and others more sporadic migrants. The MDP is implementing three initiatives in 2012 that will help answer some of the many questions currently surrounding dragonfly migration: 1. building a network of citizen scientist monitors across Canada, Mexico, and the United States to track the spring and fall movement of the five best-known migratory dragonflies in North America (Anax junius, Sympetrum corruptum, Pantala flavescens, Pantala hymenaea, and Tramea lacerata); 2. using isotopic signatures of adult wing tissue to determine how far an individual has traveled from the habitat in which it developed as a nymph; and 3. collecting nymphs and exuviae from specific localities over time to investigate patterns of reproduction, emergence, and movement among migrant species at different latitudes.
(photo by Dennis Paulson) |
