monarch butterfly

While there has been much concern regarding the population decline of the monarch butterfly, most of the research has focused on the habitat loss in the breeding ground of the Midwest. Since there is limited information on how environment changes in Texas and Mexico have affected monarch survival during their fall and spring migration, re-searchers from several universities recently studied land use changes, climate changes, milkweed populations, as well as reductions in other nectar-producing plants to find their influences on monarch population declines.
The researchers examined 30 years of satellite data to determine changes in temperature, rainfall, and plant growth on the migration route. Despite increased urbanization along I-35, landscape changes were minimal compared to the Mid-West and the study concluded that habitat loss in Texas and Mexico was not a major influence on the decline of the butterfly. Nevertheless, planting native milkweed is still recommended to benefit the migration route of the monarch butterfly.