Due to the changing farm practices of North America and the extreme climate conditions, the Monarch butterfly of Mexico has decreased significantly. The Mexican government and conservation alliance are doing their part to invest in resources to stop this decrease. Mexico's National Commission of Natural Protected Areas reported that the area of the forest where the butterflies occupy decreased greatly from 50 acres to 2.94 acres. The census of the forest is measured annually in December. It was reported that there was a 59% decrease from 7.14 acres to 2.94 acres over a one year period. This plunge of the butterfly migration has being prompted mainly by the early arrival of the warm months which disrupted their breeding cycle. This early arrival of the warm weather also lowered the production of nectar and dried the insect's eggs. The expansion of North American farmland to farm corn and soybean also led to the monarch's plunge. The farmlands have moved to use herbicide-tolerant crops and this led to the elimination of the milkweed which is the food source of the monarchs. The Mexican government is urging the United States government to its part in order to preserve one of the "world's greatest migrations."
Nature Of Science Themes:
1.Science is collaborative
2. Science is based on evidence
Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/14/science/earth/monarch-migration-plunges-to-lowest-level-in-decades.html?ref=science&_r=0
I thought this article was very interesting and informative. I think another NOS theme could be role of motivation and curiosity because the Mexican government is motivated to do something about their population, and they want the US to join in and help out too.
ReplyDeleteI also found this article to be really interesting. It is always interesting to see how humans affect the populations of other organisms. We should start working on a way to sustain the monarch population. I am interested to see what kind of solution we will come up with.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a documentary about the migration of the Monarch and I think it is really fascinating how they are so smart. They fly across the whole country down to Mexico where they stay all winter, and somehow manage to have babies and make it back to the north. I think that there should be more milkweed farms to give the monarchs something to eat and help increase their population. There isn't much that could be done about the weather, but maybe extra milkweed and some butterfly farms would help out this species.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very fascinating. It is sad to know that the monarch's population is decreasing mainly due to the lack of milkweed, which we are causing. One thing that I thought was interesting was that the warmer months came early and this disrupted their breeding cycle and it lowered the nectar for the eggs. I find this interesting because although we love the warmer weather earlier, the butterflies are dying and can't breed because of it.
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