Tag Archives: biodiversity

Monarch Butterfly In Decline, Possibly Due to Climate Change and Herbicide Use

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pollinator-friendly gardeningMonarch butterflies are said to be a thermometer of climate change in North America. Each year, between November and March, monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles from the United States and Canada, and over-winter in Mexico. There, they densely cover the trees in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve and are a major tourist attraction. But that may be changing, along with our climate.

According to Mexico’s annual report on monarch populations, which was just released, the number of hectares occupied by the butterflies in the 2012-2013 season dropped by fifty-nine percent compared to the year before. The area occupied, and its density, is used as an indication of the size of the population. At barely 1.19 hectares (2.94 acres) occupied, this year’s was the smallest monarch population in almost two decades.

The report says that the probable causes for the decline in butterflies during the migration and hibernation are the reduction in milkweed availability in feeding and reproduction sites throughout the United States and Canada, and extreme weather events affecting the reproductive generations in the United States during spring and summer 2012.

Butterflies are not just lovely harbingers of Spring; they are important to our food supply. Along with hummingbirds and bees (which are facing their own population declines, probably due to disease and pesticide use), butterflies are part of a large group of species known as “pollinators.” Their role of pollinating flowering plants, including trees, is critical to humans because an estimated third of our food supply, as well as some of our fibers and medicines, depends on them.

One of the things that we can do to help is to populate our gardens with native plants that attract and feed these pollinators. Here’s an article from Natural Life Magazine that will provide you with assistance as you plan this year’s pollinator-friendly garden. And also check out this informative article about goldenrod; this much-maligned plant is not a weed or an allergen, and it is often the last flower visited by nectar-sipping butterflies before they migrate.

Trees

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trees“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way.” ~William Blake

Trees are known as the lungs of the our planet. As well as mitigating climate change, they provide shelter for wildlife, shade our homes and public spaces, provide us with enlightenment and inspiration, and are even a great place to perch a house.

Here’s an article from Natural Life Magazine’s archives with more about “The Wonderful World of Trees and Treehugging.”

Valuing and Securing Plant Diversity

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Over one-third of all known plants face extinction. Humans are the main cause of extinction and the principle threat to species at risk. Habitat loss is the leading threat, along with introduction of alien species (this can happen deliberately in the search for pretty plants for our gardens, or unintentionally by organisms “hitch-hiking” in containers, ships, cars, or soil), over-exploitation, pollution and disease, and human-induced climate change (which has many effects, from altering migratory species patterns to causing coral bleaching).

Our youngest daughter Melanie is the conservation horticulturalist in charge of the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Through her work with native plants, I have learned about the great work done internationally on reversing this trend by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).

BGCI represents over 700 members – mostly botanic gardens – in 118 countries. It supports and is involved in the development and implementation of global policy around plant conservation – specifically the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which it is lobbying all levels of government around the world to write into law. Individuals, businesses and non-profits can pledge their support for the GSPC by signing on at the Plants for the Planet website.

BGCI also maintains a unique PlantSearch database that allows you to search for and locate rare and threatened plant species in cultivation around the world. The database is compiled from lists of living collections submitted to BGCI by the world’s botanic gardens and includes over 575,000 records.

This is the UN’s International Year of Biodiversity, so now is a great time to learn more about the importance of plants and the ecosystem services they provide for all life on earth, and to ensure their conservation.

Natural Life Magazine has published a number of articles in the past about plant conservation and biodiversity. You can find links to some of them at our Organic Gardening article archive index. And you can read every issue as far back as 2003 by taking out a digital subscription.