April 2008. Intense deforestation in Mexico could ruin one of North America’s most celebrated natural wonders, the extraordinary 3,000-mile migration of the monarch butterfly. According to a University of Kansas researcher, the astonishing migration may collapse rapidly without urgent action to end devastation of the butterfly’s vital sources of food and shelter.
‘To lose something like this migration is to diminish all of us,’ said Chip Taylor, KU professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. ‘It’s so truly spectacular, one of the awe-inspiring phenomena that nature presents to us. There is no way to describe the sight of 25 million butterflies per acre and the sensation of standing in a snowstorm of orange as the butterflies cascade off the fir trees.’
Taylor leads Monarch Watch, a program at KU dedicated to research and conservation of the butterfly. Since 1992, Monarch Watch has tracked populations at the Monarch Biosphere Reserve, a 217-square-mile area in central Mexico that is the winter home for millions of migrating butterflies from across the continent.
Nomads of the Wind - Special Reader Offer
Stunning new photographic study of the Monarch Butterfly migration, with photos by BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Ingo Arndt.
Details and images.
Stunning new photographic study of the Monarch Butterfly migration, with photos by BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Ingo Arndt.
Details and images.
Illegal Logging
In spite of its protected status, the isolated reserve is suffering from illegal logging driven by soaring prices for lumber in Mexico. This logging, once sporadic, has increased in recent years and now is threatening the survival of the butterflies. Over the past two winters, millions of monarchs have died from exposure to wind and cold temperatures in clear-cut areas. Monarch Watch estimates half of the reserve needs reforestation.
‘It’s a remote area, and it’s difficult to police,’ Taylor said. ‘There are elements that are quite forceful in their logging. They carry guns. They overpower the local residents. They sneak in there at night, sometimes with 100 trucks, and clear out 2 or 3 hectares. And we’ve got the local residents contributing to this as well. Now that they’ve taken out most of the areas where the butterflies don’t occur, they’re going to be starting work on the areas where they do occur. This prospect is very ominous and is a serious threat to the over wintering population.’
In spite of its protected status, the isolated reserve is suffering from illegal logging driven by soaring prices for lumber in Mexico. This logging, once sporadic, has increased in recent years and now is threatening the survival of the butterflies. Over the past two winters, millions of monarchs have died from exposure to wind and cold temperatures in clear-cut areas. Monarch Watch estimates half of the reserve needs reforestation.
‘It’s a remote area, and it’s difficult to police,’ Taylor said. ‘There are elements that are quite forceful in their logging. They carry guns. They overpower the local residents. They sneak in there at night, sometimes with 100 trucks, and clear out 2 or 3 hectares. And we’ve got the local residents contributing to this as well. Now that they’ve taken out most of the areas where the butterflies don’t occur, they’re going to be starting work on the areas where they do occur. This prospect is very ominous and is a serious threat to the over wintering population.’
‘Since 2000, we’ve had the three lowest populations we’ve ever seen at these over wintering sites,’ said Taylor. ‘On the surface, it looks like the population is going down. Previously, the population occupied 9 hectares. Now, we’re only averaging about 6 hectares per year. This year the population was 4.61 hectares — the third-lowest population.’
The hazard to migrating monarch butterflies extends beyond Mexico. In the United States, sprawl consumes 9.4 square miles of natural habitat per day. And, Taylor says, use of ‘Roundup Ready’ soybeans and corn has reduced monarch habitat by at least 100 million acres since 1996.
‘We’re developing this country at a very rapid pace with very little attention to wildlife,’ Taylor said. ‘In addition, the widespread use of herbicides along roadsides, transgenic crops and expansion into biofuels is reducing habitats for wildlife. These sorts of losses have to be dealt with if we’re going to sustain this monarch population. We have to create new habitats and we have to protect the habitats we have.’
Forest Regeneration
To ease the deforestation crisis at the Monarch Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, Taylor has called for steps including better interdiction to halt illegal logging, increased planting of trees and employment of area residents as forest managers.
In the United States, the KU researcher has encouraged planting of milkweed plants essential to the survival of monarch butterflies by backyard gardeners, landowners, schools, institutions and departments of transportation. Information on creating habitat through the Monarch Waystation program is available on the Monarch Watch Web site.
‘The monarch migration is truly a wonder,’ Taylor said. ‘Here, you have a fragile insect weighing a half a gram, with a tiny brain, that comes out of Mexico in the spring, migrates up to the breeding areas where it has several generations, then migrates back again to an area that the year’s last generation has never been to. There are lessons for life in this butterfly and we need to protect it. If we don’t, we’re pretty lousy stewards of this planet and it bodes poorly for our future.’
Sourced From: WildLife Extra
If you would like to help the Monarch Butterfly for free please follow this Link: EcologyFund
There you can make daily free clicks to donate - one is to help plant trees for the Monarch Butterfly.
More information about the Monarchs:
MonarchButterfly.org
PG Museum
Butterfly Website
Insecta Inspecta World
Monarch Watch
Monarch Butterfly Website
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