ENGL 105 Podcast Project: Monarch Butterflies

The podcast host, Lauren, shares her childhood love for butterflies and how she recently discovered that monarch butterflies are in danger. She explains that three main factors have contributed to the decline in monarch abundance: degradation of their habitat, loss of breeding habitat due to herbicide resistant crops, and land development. Research shows that the decline in milkweed, the butterflies' main food source, is strongly correlated with the decline in monarch population. The decline in milkweed is attributed to the increased use of herbicides and genetically modified crops. The decrease in monarch population is also observed in the overwintering areas in Mexico. The lack of milkweed acreage and slower rate of reproduction are threatening the butterflies. Continuous monitoring and limiting herbicide use are suggested as solutions to save the butterflies. Hi everyone, my name is Lauren LaRoche and I will be your host for this podcast. I wanted to start my podcast off today with a question. Do you remember that one weird kid that spent elementary school recess crouched in the grass playing with bugs? Well, that was me when I was in elementary school. I would spend every single day collecting bugs and putting them in my pencil sharpeners until finally I was gifted a butterfly garden. Butterflies, specifically modern butterflies, were my favorite. Even when I grew fearful and disgusted of every other kind of bug, I still loved butterflies. This butterfly garden was probably my most prized possession as a little kid, obsessed with bugs. I got to watch the caterpillars make their cocoons and hatch into beautiful butterflies. Finally I got to release them and watch as their beautiful wings disappeared into the sky. It was always so peaceful to know that they were going to start the process all over again. Much to my dismay, I learned recently that monarch butterflies are in danger. According to Professor Ernest H. Williams at Hamilton College and other professionals, three factors appear to have contributed to reduced monarch abundance. Degradation of the forest and the overwintering areas, the loss of breeding habitat in the United States due to the expansion of GM herbicide resistant crops, with consequent loss of milkweed host plants, as well as continued land development in severe weather. Monarch butterflies, like me, are picky eaters. Without milkweed, there is no food and no host plant for these butterflies to lay their eggs. It seems to me that there is probably a positive correlation between the decline of monarchs and the decline of milkweed acreage. However, let's see what more research has proven. When monarch butterflies migrate later in the year, they go south to warmer climates. Often they travel from the Midwestern United States to Mexico. Professor John M. Pleasance at Iowa State and other professionals noticed that the size of the Mexican overwintering population of monarch butterflies has decreased over the last decade. Approximately half of these butterflies come from the U.S. Midwest, where larvae feed on common milkweed. The numbers show that there has been a large decline in milkweed in agricultural fields in the Midwest over the last decade, which is coincident with the increased use of glyphosate herbicide and increased planting of genetically modified corn and soybeans. His study estimated that there has been a 58% decline in milkweeds on the Midwest landscape and an 81% decline in monarch production in the Midwest from 1999 to 2010. His research suggests that monarch production in the Midwest each year was positively correlated with the size of the overwintering population in Mexico. To put it together, these results strongly suggest that a loss of agricultural milkweeds is a major contributor to the decline in the monarch population. In case you are unfamiliar with the term, overwintering refers to the pause of sexual reproduction among organisms. In this case, monarch butterflies are forced to wait until the spring to reproduce. As you can imagine, the slower rate of reproduction leads to a decline in the monarch population. Overall, it seems that both researchers found that there are both a rapid decline of monarch butterflies and milkweed acreage in recent times, especially in the Midwest. After analyzing the data, they found that there is a correlation between the two, which pretty much proves causation. The lack of milkweed acreage is clearly threatening the butterflies and in order to save them, we must devote ourselves to the cause and start restoring the milkweed plant. The first step is to continuously monitor the issue. If we ignore this problem, it would probably only get worse and monarch butterflies could even become an endangered species. Researchers like the two discussed should keep monitoring the populations in these overwintering areas and keep an eye on the amount of milkweed acreage in the Midwestern United States. Another solution could be to limit the amount of herbicide we use on the milkweed plants. The herbicide seems to be heavily damaging the milkweed and this will only lead to a further decline of monarch butterflies. Thank you so much for listening to my podcast. SAVE THE BUTTERFLIES!