Jonathan Wilhoite Blog: Could Planting More Milkweed Save The Monarch Butterflies From Extinction?

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Could Planting More Milkweed Save The Monarch Butterflies From Extinction?

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Over the recent years, these beautiful species of migratory butterflies that are characterized by their distinctive black, yellow and orange accents have been progressively decreasing in numbers during the last 20 years which many claimed were primarily due to the lack of planting more milkweed along their migratory paths and are touted to be their main source of sustenance.

Planting More Milkweed May Not Be the Sole Solution

Scientists are still baffled with the actual reason behind the population decline, but believe that it could be the combination of a lot of factors from environment to human intervention that is causing this concern.

Monarch butterflies spend their winter hibernation in Mexico and parts of Southern California in the United States as the weather is relatively warm all year long. Monarchs that are found in the Eastern states east of the Rocky Mountains also migrate to Mexico and hibernate on oyamel fir trees.

Triggered by environmental changes and shift in weather climates, begin their migration to the south during winter and the use a combination of air currents and thermal forces to allow them to travel long distances, where they could travel as far as 3000 miles just to reach their winter hibernation destinations.

Recently, scientists were alarmed with the declining numbers which many feared were the result of deforestation of their natural habitats that also cleared the land of their vital source of food, the milkweed.

Land development, loggers and urbanization of forested areas were among the primary reasons of the wiping out of the monarch’s food source, as well as farmers also clearing their land of weeds to make way for crops, as milkweed has no other use for man.

But recently studies have not been conclusive at pointing the blame on milkweed alone, as other studies have shown that monarch butterflies also get their sustenance from some flower nectars and sugar-rich fruits.

Milkweed belongs to a type of leafy –green plants and is characterized by the milky sap that comes out from the stem when it is snapped and has been found to be the primary food source that the monarch caterpillars store in their bodies prior to their metamorphosis.

A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences however, pointed out that studies could not prove the decline of numbers that cause these caterpillars to starve and die.

Scientists agree that it can be blamed on several factors that come into play and have been found to affect the lifespan and longevity of these magnificent creatures like pesticides, deforestation, climate changes and global warming, among others.

There are current campaigns to spur growth of milkweed along the migratory path in the hopes of making an impact in sustaining their numbers, but until measures are also taken to address all other risk factors, then planting more milkweed may just be a small fraction of the action to try and save their dwindling numbers.

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