Libyan
Butterflies and Moths
Macro Photography by Altaher Altabet
Butterfly and Environment
This is sporadic news (from different sources) is a few samples of the news that talk about the affect of environmental destruction on one type of endangered butterflies (Monarch butterflies). List of insects and animals endangered because of the destruction of our environment, large and that happens every day, and it will happen more and more if we don't act according to that.
A dramatic decline in the number of monarch butterflies
The migration of the Monarch butterfly is unique in the insect world. Monarch butterflies from all across the Eastern and Central United States and Canada migrate up to 4.800 km every year to winter in Mexico. This wintering home is primarily being threatened by deforestation, but increased agriculture and other human activity are also causing detrimental effects to the Monarch's habitat. Mexico is attempting to save the Monarch's winter habitat by establishing wildlife refuges and tourist parks. The Mexican government hopes to raise enough money through tourist park admission fees to supplement the local economy and slow the rate of deforestation of the Monarch's habitat. In the winter of 1995-6, millions of Monarchs are thought to have died in Mexico due to cold weather, brought in part due to deforestation of their nesting sites which might have provided cover. WWF Monarch butterfly
Monarch Butterfly Migration Disappearing, WWF Says
Monarch butterfly migration might soon become a thing of the past, conservationists have warned. A new survey has found that the number of monarchs arriving in Mexico dropped significantly in 2013.
The survey conducted by World Wildlife Fund-Telcel Alliance and Mexico's National Commission for Protected Areas (CONANP) found that the butterflies just covered 1.65 acres of forest area in 2013, which is the smallest area yet. In 2012, these butterflies occupied about 2.94 acres.
End of an incredible migration?
Each year, thousands of monarch butterflies travel over 2,500 miles to reach the temperate forests of Mexico. North American monarchs are the only known butterfly species to travel such a long distance, according to National Geographic.Several factors- such as climate change, loss of habitat, changes in agricultural practices- have contributed to the fall in the number of monarch butterflies. Farmers in the U.S are now using herbicides to fight milkweeds, which are a major food source for migrating monarchs.
"The combination of these threats has led to a dramatic decline in the number of monarch butterflies arriving to Mexico to hibernate over the past decade," said Omar Vidal, WWF-Mexico Director General, according to a new release. "Twenty years after the signing of NAFTA, the monarch butterfly migration - a symbol of cooperation between our three countries - is in grave danger.""The butterfly as a species isn't in danger of extinction," Vidal added, according to Washington Post. "What is in danger of disappearing . . . is the migration of the monarch from Canada through the United States to Mexico."Forest area is used as an indirect way of estimating the population size of the butterflies. In the present study, conservationists carried out bi-weekly surveys of 11 sanctuaries that are known to house these monarchs. Nature World News
Monarch Butterfly 2013 Migration Smallest on Record
MEXICO CITY, Mexico, January 31, 2014 (ENS) – Monarch butterflies are vanishing from the Monarch Reserve in Mexico’s temperate forest where they spend November through March hibernating after migrating more than 2,500 miles from Canada and the United States. As new research shows that the number of monarchs hibernating in Mexico reached an all-time low in 2013, conservationists are urging all three countries to agree on a joint plan to keep the annual migration from fading into history.
North American Environment Ministers Cooperate to Protect Monarch Butterfly
Toronto, 8/2/1996-The North American environment ministers today agreed, for the first time ever, to work together to protect the habitat of the Monarch butterfly. Canadian Environment Minister Sergio Marchi made the announcement at the close of a day-and-a-half meeting with his two counterparts, US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol M. Browner and Mexican Environment Minister Julia Carabias. Together, the three ministers form the governing body of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), created by the environmental side accord to NAFTA.
New Scientific study about monarch butterfly
A new study from researchers from the University of Minnesota and Iowa State University suggests that the increased use of genetically modified crops may be causing monarch butterfly population declines
The number of monarch eggs in the Midwestern United States declined by 81 percent during a period that GM crops became more common on U.S. farms, 1999- 2010. The widespead use of the Monsanto's herbicide, Roundup, sprayed on fields on genetically modified corn and soybean crops, is killing milkweed; the plant on which monarchs lay their eggs
Yale Environment 360, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
