Predators play a significant role in keeping the monarch population in balance--but nobody really knows their impact on overall monarch abundance. This summer, you can help study these questions by becoming a citizen scientist for the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP). While one of the goals of the MLMP is to determine what factors affect mortality of immature monarchs, the main goal of the project is to better understand how and why monarch populations vary in their distribution and abundance across the US. By counting monarch eggs and larvae that you find on the milkweed at your own field site each week, you can not only help scientists collect data to answer these questions, but discover many amazing things about monarchs and other insects while you're there! To find out more about the MLMP, visit their web site at . Be sure to check out the link to the 2003 newsletter to read all about the project, including a story of how one Middle School teacher used the monitoring project to get her students to conduct independent research projects.     Copyright 2003 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form