HollerPhenology

Monsanto crops continue to threaten extinction of monarch butterflies

A monarch butterfly on butterflyweed, a type of milkweed, at the Lenoir Preserve Nature Center in Yonkers, New York. (Photo: Don Sutherland/flickr/cc)

 

Herbicide-resistant genetically modified crops have brought the iconic monarch butterfly to the brink of extinction, according to a new report presented by the Center for Food Safety to Congress on Thursday.

The report, Monarchs in Peril (pdf), is the most comprehensive look yet at how Monsanto's 'Roundup Ready' crops have helped decimate the monarch population, which has declined by 90 percent in the past 20 years.

Monsanto Crops Pushing Monarch Butterfly to 'Verge of Extinction' at www.commondreams.org

 

The report linked above [Monarchs in Peril: Herbicide Resistant Crops and the Decline of Monarch Butterflies in North America] summarizes some of the  recommendations for federal agencies, Congress and state governments that have been put forward by scientists and public interest groups concerned about the monarch's future. These include listing the monarch under the Endangered Species Act, and reopening past assessments of herbicide-resistant crops by the USDA pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Monarch Breeding Map/Center for Food Safety

In August of 2014, the Center for Food Safety, the Center for Biological Diversity and several other organizations filed a legal petition to protect the Monarch Butterfly under the endangered species act. The USFWS responded by opening a review of the the monarch's status.

In December, the USFWS published their 90-day findings on the monarch in the Federal register. The public comment period is open through March 2, 2015 on whether to list the monarch butterfly under the ESA.

See also my March 2014 review of work the David Suzuki Foundation is doing to encourage citizen scientists to help protect the monarch.

 

Related articles

Tell the U.s. Fish & Wildlife Service to Protect the Threatened Monarch Butterfly

Roundup-Ready GM Crops Leave Monarch Butterflies Close to Extinction

Monsanto's Roundup Ready Crop System Puts Monarch Butterflies at Brink of Extinction

A rare stonefly may soon be up the creek without a glacier

In 2011, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the western glacier stonefly, an insect found only in the upper reaches of Glacier National Park. Listing was later denied, not because the little insect wasn't in need of protection, but because budget constraints prevented its protection in favor of higher priority species.

A spring fed stream in the Two-Medicine drainage of Glacier National Park is one of 2 new locations for the western glacier stonefly (Zapada glacier). [Photo: Joe Giersch, USGS]

 

This week, a USGS press release announced publication of a new study in Freshwater Science that this stonefly may be imperiled by the loss of glaciers and increased stream temperatures due to climate warming in mountain ecosystems.

The study was initiated in 2011, partially to add to skimpy data available for use in the endangered species listing process opened by USFWS. As part of the study, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Bucknell University, and the University of Montana resampled six streams where the western glacier stonefly was known to live. Using species identification and genetic analysis, the researchers found the western glacier stonefly in only one previously occupied stream and in two new locations at higher elevations. 

[Photo: Western glacier stonefly -- Joe Giersch/USGS]

A major problem for the stonefly and other cold water dependent species is that by 2030, the glaciers in the park could be gone. Scientists are concerned about where these species will go as their increasingly fragile habitats disappear.

According to Joe Giersch, project leader and USGS scientist, “Few studies have documented changes in distributions associated with temperature warming and glacial recession, and this is the first to do so for an aquatic species in the Rockies.”

“There are a handful of other coldwater dependent alpine aquatic species here in Glacier that are at risk of extinction due to the loss of permanent snow and ice. Under a warming climate, the biodiversity of unique aquatic alpine species – not just in Glacier, but worldwide – is threatened, and warrants further study,” said Giersch. 

Citizen scientists can help monarch butterflies -- David Suzuki Foundation

Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on Echinacea purpurea. Photo by and (c)2007 Derek Ramsey

 

I found an article from the David Suzuki Foundation yesterday that makes a great pitch for citizen science and for helping out the awesome monarch butterflies, so thought I would share it on HollerPhenology.

The article begins with a brief history of Monarch Watch and its effort to engage citizens in tracking monarch migrations. Now, with monarch populations declining due to human activities such as illegal logging in Mexico, herbicide use on genetically modified crops, and impact on climate change, Suzuki and many others have asked citizens and their governments to take action on behalf of these butterflies:

In February, in response to a letter by Mexican poet Homero Aridjis, signed by more than 100 scientists, writers and environmentalists — including Canadians Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and John Ralston Saul — U.S. President Barack Obama, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper agreed to "establish a working group to ensure the conservation of the monarch butterfly, a species that symbolizes our association."

The letter to leaders said, "As Mexico is addressing the logging issues, so now must the United States and Canada address the effects of our current agricultural policies." Those problematic practices are mainly associated with large-scale planting of corn and soy genetically modified to resist the herbicide Roundup, or glyphosate. It doesn't kill crops — just pretty much everything else, including the milkweed monarchs need to lay their eggs and that is their caterpillars' main food.

The Suzuki Foundation hopes that leaders will honor their agreement, and that citizen scientists will get excited about helping scientists and researchers to better understand monarch life cycles.

Check out some of the "related posts" links below for more information. Or take a look at Monarch Watch's Bring Back the Monarchs campaign page. Another interesting presentation on the monarchs can be found at the website for the film, Flight of the Butterflies.

 

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Monarch butterfly project: Plant milkweed to support migration

Help Save Monarch Butterfly's: Plant a Milkweed Garden

Why Are Butterflies Disappearing?

Help solve an orange-and-black mystery

Neonicotinoid Pesticides Harm Bees’ Foodgathering Ability | Environment News Service

More research on why neonicotinoid pesticeds are so harmful to bee populations:

BRIGHTON, UK, January 29, 2014 (ENS) – Controversial pesticides ingested by bumble bees can seriously impact the insects’ ability to collect food, even at very low levels of contamination, finds new research from the University of Sussex and the University of Stirling.

The study shows that even tiny doses of a neonicotinoid pesticide called imidacloprid reduce the amount of pollen collected by bumblebee colonies by 57 percent, and that the effects last for at least a month after exposure.

Read more at ens-newswire.com

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Pesticides 'halve bees' pollen gathering ability'

Bees exposed to neonic pesticides suck at gathering pollen

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Loss of large carnivores poses global conservation problem | News & Research Communications | Oregon State University

Interesting research published in Science yesterday about impacts on ecosystems from losses of large predators. Here's the story from Oregon State University where lead author William Ripple teaches:

CORVALLIS, Ore. – In ecosystems around the world, the decline of large predators such as lions, dingoes, wolves, otters, and bears is changing the face of landscapes from the tropics to the Arctic – but an analysis of 31 carnivore species to be published Friday in the journal Science shows for the first time how threats such as habitat loss, persecution by humans and loss of prey combine to create global hotspots of carnivore decline.

Read the whole article at oregonstate.edu

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'Carnivore cleansing' is damaging ecosystems, scientists warn

Research: Loss of large carnivores creates global conservation woes

Loss of large carnivores poses global conservation problem

Emerald ash borer may have met its match | UIC News Center

Adult emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennus) [Photo credit:David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org]

David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org - See more at: http://www.insectimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5343061#sthash.BTSokuUZ.dpuf

A new study has some good news about woodpeckers and their taste for pests:

Agrilus planipennis

Agrilus planipennisA new study has some good news about woodpeckers and control of the emerald ash borer:

Woodpeckers find emerald ash borers a handy food source and may slow the spread of this noxious pest, even ultimately controlling it, suggest researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Their findings are published online in the journal Forest Ecology and Management.

“We found we have a native predator that is able to detect and respond to this new rich food resource,” said Charles Flower, UIC postdoctoral research associate in biology and first author of the study.

Since the emerald ash borer was first found feeding on trees in southeastern Michigan in 2002, this Asian invader has been responsible for the death of 30 million trees in the northeastern U.S. and Canada. In Chicago, where the emerald ash borer is already destroying trees, 17 percent of the street trees are ash—85,000 trees, with an estimated 300,000 more ash trees on private property.

Read the whole article at news.uic.edu

More info at emeraldashborer.info

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Study: Birds may control invasive insect decimating U.S. ash trees

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Rain in the holler, a new batch of phoebes, and some interesting links

I didn't go out today for the holler walk, so I'm just reporting on what I can see from my window. Around mid-afternoon, both phoebe parents started bringing food to the nest. I saw at least one chick during some of the feedings. I got some video but have not processed it yet...will post later.

Truthout had a couple of good Earth-related articles today. If it's stormy in your neck of the woods and you want to read, check these out:

Monarchs of Life (Tony Pereira)

Chip Taylor, biology professor at the University of Kansas, reports in his latest study that during this year's winter, monarch migration was 1/20 of its normal size, or down to 5 percent of its former glory. This may very well be the last year we see those magnificent beings engage in a most mysterious yearly migration that takes several generations to complete and covers up to 6,000 miles round-trip from central Mexico in early spring to Eastern Canada, in two or three generations, and back in the fall to Mexico to overwinter, in one single generation. Neither generation knows whether their parents were going or coming since they are long gone and dead, where they are supposed to be headed to, or where the final destinations are, but they always find the way to the same roosting places and trees, and back again. It is simply astounding!

Read more...

 

Putting the Culture Back in Agriculture: Reviving Native Food and Farming Traditions (Tory Field and Beverly Bell)

Native peoples’ efforts to protect their crop varieties and agricultural heritage in the US go back 500 years to when the Spanish conquistadors arrived. Today, Native communities throughout the US are reclaiming and reviving land, water, seeds, and traditional food and farming practices, thereby putting the culture back in agriculture and agriculture back in local hands.

Read more...

 

USGS: White-Nose Syndrome Bat Recovery May Present Challenges Similar to Those in Some Recovering AIDS Patients

An interesting update on white-nose syndrome from USGS:

Bats recovering from white-nose syndrome show evidence of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), according to a hypothesis proposed by the U.S. Geological Survey and collaborators at National Institutes of Health. This condition was first described in HIV-AIDS patients and, if proven in bats surviving WNS, would be the first natural occurrence of IRIS ever observed.

IRIS is a syndrome in which an organism's immune system, having been suppressed for a time, reactivates and, perceiving a serious infection around it, goes into overdrive resulting in severe inflammation and tissue damage in infected areas.

In both human patients with HIV-AIDS and bats with WNS, the functioning of the immune system is severely reduced. For humans, this occurs when the HIV virus attacks the patient's white blood cells, and for bats, this occurs during normal hibernation. For both humans and bats, IRIS can be fatal.

"The potential discovery of IRIS in bats infected with white-nose syndrome is incredibly significant in terms of understanding both the reasons for bat mortality and basic immune response," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "This discovery could also prove significant for studies on treatment for AIDS."

Read the whole press release at www.usgs.gov

Related articles

Temperature-Dependent Growth of Geomyces destructans, the Fungus That Causes Bat White-Nose Syndrome

US Forest Service looking for options to combat white-nose syndrome in bats

Blue Butterflies and a Tale of Two Ants

An endangered blue butterfly with an unusual life cycle may be getting some help from scientists in the UK. The key may be chemical differences in two different ant species:

via www.enn.com

One type of ant is essential for the large blue's survival, while the other spells almost certain death.

'The ants in question — two species of Myrmica red ants — look very similar and even trained ant taxonomists have trouble distinguishing between the two,' says Rhian Guillem from the University of Sheffield, who led the study. 'And there are only a handful of people who can do this in the UK.'

But scientists are discovering that even if two ant species look alike, the chemical compounds on their bodies can be very different. It's this difference that can be used to tell the two species of red ant apart.

Why California Almonds Need North Dakota Flowers (And A Few Billion Bees) : NPR

I heard this story on NPR when I was on the road yesterday. It was so interesting and thought provoking that I Googled it this morning so I could share it. The story speaks to a major concern I have about human activity on planet Earth: we really have very little knowledge about how activities such as agriculture, mining or energy production impact the planet as a whole. This article reminds us that thoughtless changes in our behavior can have significant consequences. 

via www.npr.org

This is one of those stories that reminds us that everything really is connected to everything else.

Here's the web of connections: a threat to California's booming almond business; hard times for honeybees in North Dakota; and high corn prices.

Confused? Read more...