[PCA] NEWS: Plan to save monarch butterflies backfires

Kwong, Olivia okwong at blm.gov
Thu Jan 15 09:01:42 CST 2015


http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/01/plan-save-monarch-butterflies-backfires

Plan to save monarch butterflies backfires
By Lizzie Wade
13 January 2015 7:15 pm

It started with the best of intentions. When evidence emerged that monarch
butterflies were losing the milkweed they depend on due to the spread of
herbicide-resistant crops in the United States, people across the country
took action, planting milkweed in their own gardens. But a new paper shows
that well-meaning gardeners might actually be endangering the butterflies’
iconic migration to Mexico. That’s because people have been planting the
wrong species of milkweed, thereby increasing the odds of monarchs becoming
infected with a crippling parasite.

See the link above for the full article text of an example where the right
native plant was not used and the consequences.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/native-plants_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20150115/502181c7/attachment.html>


More information about the native-plants mailing list