Habitat Loss in the US

Milkweed is the primary food source of the monarch butterfly larva and an adult Monarch will only lay her eggs on the milkweed leaves.  To many in the US, milkweed is considered a weed and removed by herbicides, late season mowing and overgrazing.     Many varieties of milkweed, including Mead's Milkweed, which are depended upon for Monarch survival are listed as 'Threatened' by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 'Endangered' by the Missouri Department of Conservation.  Habitat loss is the primary threat to milkweed.  Early haying along highways and in prairie areas prevents milkweed from reproducing.   As milkweed habitat declines, so does the Monarch butterfly's ability to reproduce.

Fortunately, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Missouri Department of Conservation are working with ranchers, farmers and homeowners on how to protect and reintroduce Mead's milkweed to the Midwest by utilizing crop rotation, periodic prairie burns and minimizing overgrazing. Also, organizations such as MonarchWatch.org provide kits for creating residential habitats.

Habitat Loss in Mexico

This mountainous region of the Michoacán state of Mexico, covered with oyamel fir trees provides a perfect wintering site for the eastern US Monarch butterflies.  The butterflies coat the fir trees huddling together for warmth and protection.  However, the Monarch's winter home is under attack. 

What's Happening?

Logging of old-growth fir trees is wrecking havoc on the region.  During the night, illegal crews of loggers invade the Michoacán forest and strip the mountain sides leading to accelerated rates of erosion and loss of fresh water in the regions.  Normally the old growth tree roots provide a method to refill under laying aquifers.

Why?

Logging has been the main source of income for many generations.  "Chopping down trees is a lucrative source of cash for impoverished indigenous communities in rural central Mexico” (Reuters)
Many people in rural areas do not have the opportunity to work in the city, so they turn towards their natural resources to provide an income.  “The forest people who live among the butterflies eke out a living from what they are able to harvest.  They need firewood for cooking and heating as well as building houses and fences.”   Illegal logging has become such a big market that more than half of all timber cut in Mexico is from illegal cutting. In 1986, the Mexican government set aside a reserve for the monarchs called the Monarch Biosphere Reserve.  Unfortunately, more than half of the reserve has been destroyed from illegal farming.  Below are images from Ikonos satellite showing the amount of deforestation taking place in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.

What's Being Done?

Recently, the Mexican government also formed a team of 17 park rangers, armed with assault rifles and body armor, to protect the colonies of monarch butterflies. Green peace activists have stepped in to help local actions as well as researchers from the University of Kansas.  The KU researcher have gone to the Michoacán area to study the area for a better understanding of the butterfly migration.

Locals are taking action against the loggers – replanting colonies of the oymal fir tree.  One man in particular – Jose Luis Alvarez Alcala has made a group to protect the region (LCHPP) La Cruz Habitat Protection Project.  

Also, the Mexican government responded by creating the Monarch Butterfly Special Biosphere Reserve in 1986 with 16,110 hectares of key habitat protected and the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in 2001 with 56,259 hectares of core and buffer zones.

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