MONARCH BUTTERFLY SLAUGHTERED BY ROUNDUP HERBICIDE

I came across an in-depth article written by Molly M. Ginty, a journalist who writes for Ms., Women's eNews, On the Issues, the Utne Reader, The Nation. The article appeared in In These Times newspaper on December 5^th, entitled, Fall of the Monarchs. Can we save North America’s most beloved butterfly? A University of Minnesota study linked the monarch decline to glyphosate, aka Roundup. In the United States, 94,000 tons of the herbicide are applied each year. A lady named Ms. Jackson is highlighted. She’s a Monarch enthusiast, like me, and lives on 10 acres outside Davisburg, Mich. She grows four types of milkweed in a “butterfly garden” and fills her house with plastic containers in which she hatches butterfly eggs. Like me, she is alarmed by the monarchs’ population decline.

Scientists say that the downfall has been caused in small part by environmental factors, but mostly by two types of human meddling: the use of herbicides that are killing off milkweed plants in the United States, and the illegal logging of the pine and fir trees on which the monarchs make their homes for five months of the winter in central Mexico. Jackson is a volunteer for Monarch Watch, an organization devoted to saving the Monarch butterfly from extinction. They use a number of strategies to slow or halt U.S. herbicide use and Mexican logging.



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“Monarch butterflies warn of what might lie ahead for other wild creatures affected by over-farming and deforestation,” according to Chip Taylor, professor of insect ecology at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, who founded Monarch Watch in 1992. Taylor stated, “It’s clear that this year’s total population is down, and that the overwintering group that just arrived in Mexico is among the lowest ever recorded.”

The devastating reduction started 15 years ago—very recently in the monarch’s long history. An estimated 250,000 years old, this species predates modern humans by 50,000 years and has until now enjoyed a hardiness that belies its 4-inch wingspan and 0.2-ounce weight. Monarch butterflies feed on the nectar of a variety of flowers, such as the coneflowers and daisies that Jackson grows in her garden. They lay their eggs on a once-ubiquitous plant: the light green, fuzzy-leafed milkweed, named for its rubbery, milk-colored sap. Because monarchs multiply in such vast numbers, they have until now been able to winter safely in just one 60-square mile area, clustering on south-facing slopes that are 10,000 feet above sea level in the mountains of Mexico’s Michoacán state.

Every March, monarchs wake from their winter slumber, warm their wings in the spring sunlight, and begin the frenzied business of mating. As swarms of them start flying northward, the females lay their eggs on milkweed plants that the hatchling caterpillars eat. New butterflies emerge from cocoons and begin to trek north, mating and laying eggs by the billions. The monarchs fan out across the United States and up to Canada, where the fourth generation, descended from the hibernating population in Mexico, turns around and starts flying south to Michoacán at an average rate of 50 miles per day.

From June to September, in the three short months that they migrate from Canada to Mexico, the monarchs journey 3,000 miles. They start their journey flying solo, then gather in a swarm that is 50 miles wide and casts a shadow as it crosses the U.S.-Mexico border. Researchers have yet to determine what guides the monarchs - whether it is smell, water, sunlight, magnetic fields, or some hardwired form of butterfly radar. All scientists know is that the monarchs know where to go. If you catch and crate a large group of them, fly them in planes hundreds of miles off course and release them, they will still head straight to Mexico.

Mexicans consider the butterflies to be the souls of their departed ancestors and every October welcome las monarcas with boisterous festivals. But this year fewer butterflies have showed up for the party. They cover just 7 acres of forest versus the optimum 15, with a growing number dying right after arrival. One by one, they tumble lifeless from the tall trees. Their delicate, bright wings carpet the forest floor.

Suburban sprawl and recent droughts both threaten the milkweed that is essential to the monarchs’ survival. But scientists say most of the monarchs’ downfall is likely tied to modern-day agricultural practices. Molly M. Ginty uncovered  a University of Minnesota study that linked 10 years of monarch decline to glyphosate, the most popular herbicide in the United States, used in brands such as Monsanto’s Roundup. An estimated 84,000 tons of glyphosate are applied annually to soybeans, corn and other U.S. commercial crops. On top of this comes 3,600 tons used in the home and garden sectors, and 6,800 tons used by private businesses and government agencies.

Though glyphosate may be a boon to farmers and landscapers, it is killing milkweed—normally among the hardiest and most stubborn of plants—in record numbers. One recent study found that the milkweed population in the Midwest plunged 58 percent from 1999 to 2010, and that as a result, monarch egg production plummeted 81 percent.

Ginty described how the butterflies’ winter resting grounds are also under threat. Michoacáns near the state’s 12 butterfly reserves often turn to illegal logging because they have few other sources of income. It can take an illegal logger less than an hour to chop down a pine tree that has been sheltering monarchs for centuries. “From 1986 to 2006, 20 percent of the forest reserves in Michoacán were disturbed,” says Maria Isabel Ramirez, a geographer and conservationist from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. “More than 60 percent of this loss is tied to illegal extractions.”

Molly M. Ginty's article offered a ray of hope. She described how, in the United States, butterfly lovers are offsetting the milkweed die-off by building “monarch way stations,” such as the milkweed gardens that are now growing everywhere from a convention center roof in Pittsburgh to Debbie Jackson’s backyard in Davisburg, Mich. I, myself, created a Monarch way station in my side and backyard, with over 44 milkweed plants and nectaring flowers. Last year, I collected Monarch eggs off them and raised and released 80 Monarch butterflies into the sky...from just my small yard!! Now that Jackson’s butterfly gardening season has ended, she is busy giving butterfly talks at local schools, and making the rounds at community groups and churches, inspiring others to adopt some of the 1,500 monarch eggs that she will give away next summer. Indoor hatching boosts the caterpillars’ survival rate, a grim 4 to robust 90 percent.

“I want everyone to witness the miracle that I did as a child,” says Jackson. “When you watch a newly hatched monarch hang from your finger and unfurl its wings, you can’t help but dedicate yourself to this creature’s survival.”

I am so glad that journalists like Molly M. Ginty create an awareness of the Monarch butterfly's plight, through thorough research and a homespun writing style. I'm also thankful to citizens like Ms. Jackson, who created a Monarch Waystation in her yard, like I did. Please convert a space in your yard to help save the Monarch butterfly. Read how fun, easy and enjoyable it is to create a Monarch waystation in your yard.

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S believes urban sprawl can be offset by creating wildlife-friendly spaces in America's 25,000,000+ acres lawns, one yard at a time! Click HERE to learn why. A portion of Ad revenues (10%) will be donated to Monarch Watch, earmarked for their Monarch Waystation program. Do you have a wildlife-friendly space? Please share it by Contacting Us!

5 KEY CONCEPTS TO CREATE A WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY YARD

I ran across an informative article in the North Shore News. It was written by Todd Major, a journeyman horticulturist and chief horticulture instructor at the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden. If you need advice on creating a wildlife-friendly yard, he’s the one for you to contact: stmajor@shaw.ca Major has bears, coons, squirrels, a skunk, the odd owl that flies through and a variety of birds that come to visit him. Although Spring time is usually the busiest season, fall is highly more important for wildlife in the garden because they need food to fatten-up and survive the lean winter months. Major is constantly asked how to build and design the garden to attract and support wildlife. He offers a rational, common-sense approach to creating wildlife-friendly spaces in your yard. He recommends you follow several key concepts. In simple terms, animals need the same things we do to survive: a variety of healthy food sources, fresh water, a safe place to live and most importantly, acceptance. It seems strange to me that when people talk of having wildlife in the garden, they are willing to have birds visit but not insects, or squirrels but not raccoons, or deer but not bears. Having wildlife in the garden is not some type of buffet-service, you don't get to choose who visits and who doesn't.

Here are 5 key concepts to apply, that Todd Major says will attract wildlife and transform your yard into a wildlife-friendly place:
(1) Provide food in many forms: Plant a wide variety of flowering plants with nectar for insects to feed on, which will attract birds to feed on the insects. Grow trees with a variety of seeds and fruits to attract birds and squirrels, which will attract higher life forms to feed on the birds and squirrels. Protect and enhance the community of soil life to attract birds, snakes and frogs to feed on soil insects.

(2) Plant in layers: Planting a layered and diverse canopy structure will attract a diverse array of wildlife. Tall trees under-planted with smaller trees, and large shrubs under-planted with small shrubs, and perennials under-planted with groundcovers and bulbs, will provide a diverse canopy structure that offers varied living spaces for life. By contrast, a lawn with a few shrubs provides home for a very limited array of life and those monoculture plantings load the dinner plate for pests.

(3) Is there anything to drink? Water is a primary element needed to sustain all life and without some form of fresh clean water, few animals will visit or stay in the garden. Use deep-sided ponds, large oak barrels, deep-dish bird baths or any other manner of built water feature that provides reasonably clean water to allow insects and animals to get a drink.

(4) Where do I sleep? If you want wildlife to visit then make them a bed to sleep in. Birds need undisturbed dense areas in trees and shrubs to nest in. Larger animals like raccoons and chipmunks need large branched trees to rest and sleep in. Insects and small animals like frogs, salamanders and snakes need dense cover such as wood piles, rock piles, rotting logs or thick leaf litter mulch to hibernate in during the winter months. An immaculately clean garden with nothing to eat and no place to live attracts nothing but slugs.

(5) Is that going to hurt me? Fertilizers, pesticides and bug zappers cause harm to many forms of life. Do no harm, cause no harm and use no harmful product in the garden if you want to attract wildlife. As I always tell my students: Don't you know? If not, then learn. Don't you care? Maybe you should.

Lastly, show some tolerance, respect and spirituality for life in its many forms and enjoy those priceless and thrilling moments of wildlife viewing in the garden.

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S believes urban sprawl can be offset by creating wildlife-friendly spaces in America's 25,000,000+ acres lawns, one yard at a time! Click HERE to learn why. A portion of Ad revenues (10%) will be donated to Monarch Watch, earmarked for their Monarch Waystation program. Do you have a wildlife-friendly space? Please share it by Contacting Us!

MONARCH BUTTERFLY MIGRATION MYSTERY REVEALED

My Waystation No. 613 sign in Fremont, Ohio
 

Released Monarchs on Waystation No. 613

Monarch enthusiasts! Here's a wonderful story about the Monarch butterfly from the Journal of Biology (June 19 2009).

Minireview: Clocks, cryptochromes and Monarch migrations.

by
Charalambos P Kyriacou
Department of Genetics
University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Abstract: The annual migration of the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) from eastern North America to central Mexico is one of nature's most inspiring spectacles. Recent studies including one in BMC Biology, have begun to dissect the molecular and neurogenetic basis for this most complex behavior.
Miniview: At the approach of fall in the northern United States and southern Canada, the Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, starts to get restless. These butterflies usually represent the third or fourth generation that season, each previous generation having lived for around 6-8 weeks. The current generation senses the shorter photoperiod of autumn days and starts to shut down its reproductive system, lay down extra layers of fat, and in general become more physiologically resistant to environmental stresses such as colder temperatures. This state of diapause precedes one of nature's most glorious sights, the annual autumn migration of the Monarch from the northern United States to its overwintering grounds in central Mexico, where it settles in oyamel fir trees.

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This alteration in the Monarch's physiological state, in readiness for the arduous 4,000-kilometer journey south, includes a three-to fourfold increase in longevity that will carry these individuals through to the following spring in Mexico. At that time they mate, lay the fertilized eggs on milkweed (Asclepias), and the few adults that survive begin their northern journey home. In two or three generations, each one laying eggs progressively further north as milkweed starts into new growth, the Monarchs finally reach their northern homes. In the autumn, the cycle begins again.

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Butterfly migration and the circadian clock: This remarkable feat represents the longest annual insect migration known and has become a focus of study for the circadian biologist Steven Reppert and his group at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester. In a series of papers over the past few years, they have confirmed that, like migrating birds, the Monarch depends on its circadian clock to find the right direction. It has a time-compensated sun compass, so if the clock is made arrhythmic (by placing the butterfly in constant bright light for a few days), or is phase-shifted by a few hours, the butterfly will lose its way, because it uses the time to tell it where the sun should be in the sky. 

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To do this, Monarchs use sky-light spectral gradients and polarized ultraviolet (UV) light, for which they have dedicated photo-receptors. Consequently, they can orient themselves towards Mexico in the southwest under a variety of meteorological conditions. Thus we have a truly extraordinary and tantalizing set of results where the polarized-light-input pathway is connected to the clock. The Monarch butterfly responds to day length and initiates diapause, enhances its longevity and the associated migratory restlessness.


Following the milkweed trail north: One question Reppert and his team wished to answer was whether the spring and summer butterflies orient northwards (in the same way as their parents and (great)grandparents did southwards) in order to return north from Mexico, or whether they simply work their way north following the milkweed trail. In a study by the group published recently in BMC Biology, Zhu et al. treated diapausing fall butterflies with a juvenile hormone (JH) analog and showed that this stimulated reproductive development as expected. They observed, however, that the treated individuals were still able to fly directionally and point south towards Mexico. This means that although JH shutdown stimulates diapause and may initiate celestial orientation, JH deficiency is not required to maintain directionality, which can be independent of reproductive state. In contrast, the majority of wild-caught summer butterflies did not show any directional response, confirming earlier reports. These results therefore suggest, with some caveats, that the spring and summer butterflies may simply follow the milkweed back home rather than actively orienting with their compass. (Above photo: Waystation 613 side yard- Common, Swamp and Tropical milkweed. I've witnessed Monarchs flying down our street, then abruptly turn into our side yard and alight on them)
 

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One wonders whether treating summer butterflies with a JH antagonist might initiate a stronger orienting response? To identify genes that might be involved in orientation, microarray experiments were carried out to compare the brain transcriptome of fall migrants and summer butterflies. In addition, fall migrants treated with the JH agonist were studied, together with appropriate vehicle-injected migrant controls. Thus, the experimental design sought to identify transcripts that are differentially regulated between the summer group and the migrants (irrespective of the migrants' reproductive state). Forty transcripts were observed to show differences in expression, of which more than half had some annotation associated with them from other databases. The hits included a clock gene vrille, which regulates the Clk gene and the gene for tyramine beta hydroxylase (which is required for the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitter octopamine), as well as other genes involved in neural and behavioral plasticity.

It remains to be seen how important any of these are to the orientation phenotype; this can only be assessed by direct manipulation of these molecules in the brain.Monarch magnetism? The receptors for polarized UV light in the butterfly's retinal dorsal rim and their input to the circadian time-oriented sun compass help point the way to Mexico. But many animal compasses rely on magnetic fields, so how might magnetoreception be encoded within the Monarch? Reppert's group has also recently carried out a study of magnetoreception in Drosophila melanogaster. Using flies trained to respond to a magnetic field, it was apparent that various fly strains showed a modest magnetosensitivity, but only when light in the near-blue region was included. These wavelengths (around 420 nm) fit the action spectrum of Drosophila CRY, and indeed it has been speculated that the photoinducible electron-transfer reaction of this flavoprotein generates magnetosensitive radical pairs. In support of this hypothesis, fly loss-of-function cry mutants were severely compromised in their magnetosensitivity.

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These results suggest that CRY could be a magnetoreceptor, or if not, that it might act as a signaling component downstream of the true receptor. Either way, attention must now focus on the Monarch's CRY proteins, and whether one or both of these can provide magnetosensitivity. Interestingly, in the central body, the putative locality of the sun compass, nerve fibers expressing CRY2, not CRY1, are observed. So, although one would presume from the fly data that the Drosophila-like butterfly CRY1 protein would be the most relevant in any photoinducible radical-pair hypothesis, we should perhaps not rule out CRY2. An initial way forward would be to transform the butterfly cry1 into the fly, and see whether it rescues magnetosensitivity in the cry mutant, and whether mutagenesis of the relevant radical-pair residues does not. This and many other experiments now suggest themselves, and there is little doubt that we will soon be treated to another breakthrough in the otherwise mystical phenomenon of Monarch migration.

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S believes urban sprawl can be offset by creating wildlife-friendly spaces in America's 25,000,000+ acres lawns, one yard at a time! Click HERE to learn why. A portion of Ad revenues (10%) will be donated to Monarch Watch, earmarked for their Monarch Waystation program. Do you have a wildlife-friendly space? Please share it by Contacting Us!

TRUMPETER SWANS MADE DRAMATIC COMEBACK

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Drove to Ottawa National WR and parked on long entrance road to walking trails and marshes. Only 30 feet into the marsh, standing atop a muskrat house was a huge swan...a Trumpeter Swan! A yellow neck band labeled 1A2 could be seen, along with a gold/copper colored metal leg band. There were 2 adult Trumpeter Swans with 4 immatures close to them. In the distance were eight Tundra Swans. Nice experience to compare the sizes and to see the yellow mark at the bill base of the Tundra Swans. The two groups of swans never intermingled while I was there. Also counted a female Hooded Merganser, 7 Green-winged Teal, 4 American Widgeon, dozens of Mallards, several Pied-billed Grebes, 50 Canada Geese, a pair of Wood Ducks, six Gadwalls, 4 Great Blue Herons, 1 Great Egret, 6 Double-crested Cormorants, 1 mature Bald Eagle, several Red-tailed Hawks, 1 American Kestrel, and several Am. Coots.

Trumpeter Swan notecards

Hats off to all those dedicated to bringing back the Trumpeter Swan from near extinction, so the rest of us can continue to enjoy viewing them, here in NW Ohio...in the wild. Until recently, Trumpeter swans were at extinction's door. They had been hunted mercilessly for feathered hats and powder puffs, while draining their wetland environs and filling it with lead shot. Roughly 25 years ago, dedicated naturalists began a relentless effort to stave off the extermination of swans and cranes.

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They reintroduced the Trumpeter swan to the Midwest and the Whooping crane to the Eastern U.S. These dedicated people worked tirelessly in the field, dressed up in white crane-mimicking burkas and used hand puppets to teach young chicks to forage, flew ultra-lights to guide young cranes on their first migration and, egg-by-egg, slowly brought back the numbers of Trumpeter swans. Thanks!

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I'm so glad they did, for the "Trumpeter" has been written about extensively. Even E.B. White, the famous author, included a Trumpeter swan in his novel. I remember my daughter, years ago, reading his novel, Charlotte's Web. Along with Wilbur, the lovable pig and the intelligent spider named Charlotte, there was Louis, the Trumpeter Swan, who appeared in another White novel, The Trumpet of the Swan. Louis came into the world lacking a voice but triumphed over his handicap by becoming a famous  trumpet player. 

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S believes urban sprawl can be offset by creating wildlife-friendly spaces in America's 25,000,000+ acres lawns, one yard at a time! Click HERE to learn why. A portion of Ad revenues (10%) will be donated to Monarch Watch, earmarked for their Monarch Waystation program. Do you have a wildlife-friendly space? Please share it by Contacting Us!

FREE "SE MONARCHS, MILKWEEDS & HOSTPLANTS" BROCHURE

Free "SE Monarchs, Milkweeds, and Hostplants" brochure

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The Florida Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with the Xerces Society and the Butterfly Conservation Initiative, are pleased to announce the release of a new Southeast Monarch-milkweed- butterfly-hostplant brochure. This educational resource was developed by the Florida Museum of Natural History in cooperation with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and the Butterfly Conservation Initiative . Funding was provided by the F.A.O. Schwarz Family Foundation, Florida Biodiversity Foundation and the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. Support research, education and conservation projects by purchasing a Save Wild Florida Specialty License Plate.

Click and download the colorful brochure:
http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/SE-Monarch-milkweed-butterfly-host-plant-brochure-final-2012.pdf

CUTTING ENVIRONMENTAL REGS WILL AMPLIFY BIRTHS OF IMPAIRED CHILDREN

Received a letter from SaveOurEnvironment. The letter emphasizes that now, more than ever, we need to protect and strengthen our federal environmental programs. In the wake of the devastating disaster of Hurricane Sandy, the consequences of climate change have never been clearer.

And, scientists are saying that we can only expect it to get worse. That's why we need to do everything we can to prevent any further disaster and bring America into a clean energy future. Save Our Environment strongly urges all of us to oppose cuts to federal funding for any vital environmental programs as part of a budget deal or sequestration.

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We have already suffered enough cuts to these programs, which only make up 1.25% of the overall budget. Cutting funding any further would be devastating for the well-being of our country. We should be prioritizing clean air and clean water programs, and making the right steps to protect our wild places and wildlife. Please, ask your senators and congressmen/women to you cut the tax breaks for Big Oil and Big Coal companies, which would save more than $40 billion over 10 years and provide a safer and cleaner environment in communities across the country.

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As a school psychologist, I have dealt with the mental and physical health of children over the past 36 years. The growing percentage of newborns afflicted with disorders such as autism, asthma, retardation, hyperactivity, and mood disorders are being linked, more and more, to environmental toxins. One example is mercury vapor, which continuously spouts from our coal-burning power plants. I testified at an EPA hearing in Columbus, Ohio and spoke about how environmental toxins are harming our children

There are two veteran journalists who conducted ground-breaking research that showed how, why and where 
industrial toxins are causing an explosion of birth defects, cancer, asthma, and other serious illnesses in American children. They are journalists Philip and Alice Shabecoff, and they investigated corporate payoffs to highly paid Washington lobbyists, to "scientists-for-hire" working in labs, to the offices of politicians responsible for regulation, and right back to our homes and schools-which are built, stocked, and "cleaned" with deadly toxins. There book is "Poisoned for Profit", which is not advertised on this site, but I highly recommend you obtain it. They vividly describe the lives of children, families, and communities beset by environmental poisons, pose solutions to eradicate this crime, and offer a practical guide to protect children from harm. 

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It's amazing that in the United States alone, industrial and agricultural toxins account for about 60,000 avoidable cancer deaths annually. Pollution-related health costs to Americans are similarly staggering: $13 billion a year from asthma, $351 billion from cardiovascular disease, and $240 billion from occupational disease and injury. Most troubling, children, the poor, and minorities bear the brunt of these health tragedies.
And, an anti-environmental coalition of U.S. politicians, campaign contributors, and lobbyists are about to fail us and our children again, by eliminating environmental protection laws. This coalition exerts ultimate power over media, advertising, and public relations to cover up environmental disease and death. Even our devoted scientists and the environmental regulators themselves are frequently "captured" by well-funded polluters and special interests.

Don't we, ordinary citizens, have an obligation to help prevent avoidable environmental deaths and to remain informed about, and involved in, public-health and environmental decision-making? That's what a democracy is all about! Only a fraction of the early colonists supported the American Revolution, but that tiny group managed to change the world. In the face of powerful corporations, lobbyists and politicians, we can do the same for environmental health.

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So, we all must act globally, nationally and locally to maintain healthy, natural environments. Urge your reps in the Beltway to leave our environmental laws alone. And, act locally to create a Wildlife-Friendly Yard. There are 28,000,000 acres of mowed lawns in America, and if we create wildlife-friendly spaces in them, it will benefit the threatened species of flora and fauna by counteracting urban sprawl. Plan backyard spaces that are beautiful and that provide food and shelter for wildlife visitors. Learn about the specific, indigenous plants in your locale that appeal to different types of birds, butterflies and other wildlife.

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S believes urban sprawl can be offset by creating wildlife-friendly spaces in America's 25,000,000+ acres lawns, one yard at a time! Click HERE to learn why. A portion of Ad revenues (10%) will be donated to Monarch Watch, earmarked for their Monarch Waystation program. Do you have a wildlife-friendly space? Please share it by Contacting Us!