Also in this article 'Populations Declining', and 'Herbicides Killing
Milkweed'.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/09/14/4140800_making-sure-monarchs-return.…
Making sure monarchs return
BY MELISSA DOWLAND
CorrespondentSeptember 14, 2014
It’s incredibly special to gently place a brightly colored monarch
butterfly on a child’s nose and watch her face light up with joy and
excitement as she feels the tickle of fragile legs or the brush of a scaly
wing. It is perhaps even more remarkable when I place a butterfly on a
teacher’s nose and watch that same sense of wonder come alive in someone
who is perhaps not quite so close to youthful exuberance. No matter who you
are, having a butterfly on your nose is a magical experience.
Monarchs are the black-and-orange beauties commonly seen in North Carolina
in spring and fall. Their numbers are greatest in the mountains and at the
coast as they follow these geographical landmarks on their southward fall
migration. These small, fluttering creatures have one of the most
remarkable insect migrations in the world, annually traveling from breeding
grounds in the eastern and central United States and Canada to a few small
areas of forest in the Sierra Madre Mountains near Mexico City to
overwinter.
Each year, the individuals that make this 3,000-mile trek do so for the
first time: They are the great-great-great-grandchildren of the butterflies
that migrated north the previous spring.
Generally, monarchs are relatively short-lived. During the spring and
summer, each butterfly goes through a life cycle lasting about five to nine
weeks – from tiny, striated egg (three or four days) to black, white and
yellow-striped caterpillar (10 to 14 days) to gold-flecked green chrysalis
(10 to 14 days) to orange and black butterfly (two to five weeks).
But late summer through the winter, the butterflies cease breeding, and the
adults live much longer – up to nine months – making their long-distance
migration to Mexico possible. After that long-lived generation overwinters
and spring arrives, the butterflies mate as they prepare to leave the
Mexican mountaintops. After only a short distance, the northward migrants
lay eggs and pass their genes on to the next generation, which continues
the journey north. It is truly an astounding feat that each year new
butterflies return to the same specific locations in Mexico.
Populations declining
There is concern that this phenomenon may not survive the strain that has
been placed on it, as the species is challenged on a number of fronts.
Since 2006, monarch butterfly populations have declined significantly.
Observers of the species have seen far fewer all across North Carolina and
elsewhere in its range.
These anecdotal observations are supported by scientific data. Each
December, surveys are completed of the overwintering population in Mexico.
Because the butterflies are faithful to the same sites year after year,
scientists know where to go to assess the population. During the past 20
years, the average amount of land occupied has been about 6 to 7 hectares
(a hectare is about the size of half a football field), with a peak in
1996–97 at 20.97 hectares.
Last winter, monarch butterflies occupied only 0.67 hectares – about 10
percent of the space they typically average. That’s a tiny amount by
comparison, and it is sad and a little frightening to consider. We may be
running out of time to see this majestic natural spectacle.
What is causing this population decline? A key to any species’ survival is
the preservation of critical habitat. For the monarchs, this means sites
for breeding, feeding and resting. For many years, emphasis was placed on
the protection of monarch overwintering grounds in Mexico. The oyamel fir
trees, in which the monarchs roost during winter months, play a critical
role in the species’ well being. With the creation (1986) and expansion
(2000) of the Monarch Butterfly Special Biosphere Reserve, steps have been
taken toward maintaining a safe haven for monarchs during winter, though
illegal harvesting of trees in the region remains a problem.
But new evidence suggests a far greater impact from loss of habitat in the
United States and Canada.
Herbicides killing milkweed
One of the most important types of habitat for breeding monarchs is farm
fields. Monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on plants in the milkweed
family, and these are often found within and on the edges of agricultural
land. Two major factors seem to be contributing to the decline of milkweed
habitat for monarchs. Since the introduction of herbicide-resistant corn
and soybeans in 1997, the use of herbicides on farm fields has increased
dramatically.
Farmers are now spraying herbicides on crops during the growing season,
which has essentially eliminated milkweed that formerly would have grown in
and around fields. Furthermore, with high corn prices, due in part to the
use of corn in the production of ethanol, marginal farmland at the edges of
existing fields is being converted to agricultural use.
These margins traditionally would have been home to numerous native plants,
including milkweed for monarch caterpillars. Scientists estimate that more
than 150 million acres of habitat have been lost since 1996.
Some variation in population is expected as a result of annual weather
fluctuations: Unseasonably cold or hot weather is not ideal for monarch
migration. But if the overall decline in population is due to human
factors, action on our part is needed now.
Melissa Dowland is coordinator of teacher education at the N.C. Museum of
Natural Sciences.
Read more here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/09/14/4140800_making-sure-monarchs-return.…
Here's another gardening resource.
I believe this facebook page represents people in and around Raleigh.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/lookatmygarden/
Also, the Wake County Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners have a
website, a twitter account, and a facebook page.
Jamie
FYI.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Erin White <erinsullivanwhite(a)gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 12:17 PM
Subject: [Belvidere-Woodcrest] surplus tomatoes? extra okra?
To: Belvidere Park-Woodcrest Listserve <bpw(a)eastraleigh.org>
Hi All-
I work in local food every day, and I'm kind of embarrassed to say I didn't
realize how easy donating food to Logan's Plant-a-Row project is.
Basically, they'll take any amount of any food, herbs, etc that you grow.
Just take what you want to donate to the customer service desk, they give a
receipt for tax deduction, and then they take your produce and make sure it
gets to hungry folks in our community. Other perks, too, for repeat
donations . . .
So if you have extra anything, go drop it off!
This was an eye-opener for me, and maybe it is for you, too. happy
gardening and harvesting!
Erin
213 Plainview
ps: neighborhood garden surveys by my intern went great, not as
comprehensives we'd hoped, but I'll share when I have a minute to pull it
together . . .
--
erin white
founder + principal, community food lab
communityfoodlab.org
@comm_food_lab
erinsullivanwhite(a)gmail.com
919.995.0460
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http://www.eastraleigh.org/mailman/listinfo/bpw
