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“I have been studying the effects of climate on monarch populations for several years and climate change really has me worried. Higher temperatures are likely to negatively affect monarch populations by reducing reproductive success and altering the distribution and abundances of milkweed species on which the monarchs depend.”
These are the words of insect ecologist Chip Taylor who founded Monarch Watch, an outreach program focused on education, research and conservation relative to monarch butterflies.
Through the last 20 years Monarch Watch has enlisted the help of volunteers to tag monarchs during the fall migration. This program has produced many new insights into the dynamics of the monarch migration.
Seven years ago, in recognition that habitats for monarchs are declining at a rate of 6000 acres a day in the United States, Monarch Watch created the Monarch Waystation program. The goal of this program is to inspire the public, schools and others to create habitats for monarch butterflies and to assist Monarch Watch in educating the public about the decline in resources for monarchs, pollinators and all wildlife that share the same habitats.
Dr Taylor will speak at Symposium 2012 on “Sustaining biodiversity.”
“By protecting and planting stands of native plants, Native Plant Societies sustain pollinators, keystone species which are responsible for pollinating 70% of the vegetation in many natural communities. It follows that sustaining populations of native plants throughout Texas and the United States is absolutely necessary if we wish to maintain the wildlife that is dependent on these plants.”
The diversity of plant and animal life is largely the product of the interactions of pollinators and plants The rise of the Angiosperms over 250 million years ago and their relationships with an increasingly diverse group of organisms that facilitated pollen transfer and therefore successful reproduction by the plants has given rise to at least 250,000 plant species. These plants in turn produce the fruits, nuts, berries, seeds and foliage that support over a million insect species, and the majority of our non-marine birds and mammals.
Symposium 2012 will be October 4-7 in Kerrville. Registration is now open.
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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: Bill Hopkins
