Page 28 - atoday
P. 28
A28
SCIENCETuesday 5 January 2016
Mexico hopes to see more monarch butterflies Feds: 2015 Lake
Erie algae bloom
MARK STEVENSON ico and Canada,” Jewell Illegal logging more than find their way back to the most on record
Associated Press said before hiking an hour tripled in the monarch but- same patch of pine forest
PIEDRA HERRADA, Mexi- into the mountains to see terflies’ wintering grounds each year. JOHN SEEWER
co (AP) — The number of the trees where the mon- last year, reversing several Some scientists suggest Associated Press
monarch butterflies reach- archs roost. years of steady improve- the butterflies may release TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The
ing their wintering grounds She said the United States ments. chemicals marking the mi- algae bloom that spread
in central Mexico this year is working to reintroduce Pacchiano said the re- gratory path and fear that across Lake Erie in the
may be three to four times milkweed, a plant key to serve’s buffer area lost if their numbers fall too low warmer months of 2015
higher than the previous the butterflies’ migration, more than 20 acres (9 hect- the chemical traces will not was the largest on record
season, authorities said re- and left behind a thick,
cently. A guide holds up a damaged and dying butterfly at the monarch butterfly reserve in Piedra Herra- paint-like scum that cov-
Speaking during a visit to a da, Mexico. The number of monarch butterflies reaching their wintering grounds in central Mexico ered an area roughly the
monarch reserve with U.S. this year may be three or four times higher than the previous year, authorities said recently. The size of New York City, gov-
Interior Secretary Sally Jew- population of orange-and-black butterflies, which migrate to Mexico from the U.S. and Canada, ernment scientists said re-
ell, Mexican Environment has declined in recent years. cently.
Secretary Rafael Pacchia- The bloom fueled by
no said initial reports sug- (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) heavy summer rains sur-
gest the butterfly popula- passed the record-setting
tion is rebounding. on about 3 million hectares ares) due to illegal logging be strong enough for others algae outbreak in 2011
“We estimate that the but- (1,160 square miles) within in one area this year, but to follow. that stretched from Toledo
terfly population that ar- five years, both by planting the tree cutting was de- Two years ago the butter- to Cleveland, said the Na-
rives at the reserve is as and by designating pesti- tected and a number of flies reached a low point, tional Oceanic and Atmo-
much as three and could cide-free areas. arrests were made. covering only 1.65 acres spheric Administration.
reach four times the sur- Milkweed is the plant the Loggers cut down 47 acres (0.67 hectares), the lowest Scum from the bloom cov-
face area it occupied last butterflies feed and lay their (19 hectares) of trees in since record-keeping be- ered about 300 square
season,” Pacchiano said. eggs on, but it has been at- San Felipe de los Alzati in gan in 1993. miles in early and mid-Au-
He did not explain how tacked by herbicide use in Michoacan state last year, At their peak in 1996, the gust, the agency said.
the government made the the United States. the biggest loss since 2009. monarchs covered more But the actual bloom was
calculation, but authorities “Our agricultural practices Illegal logging had fallen to than 44 acres (18 hect- much larger. Just how big
conduct informal tracking must be adapted. ... We almost zero in 2012. ares). But since then, each is still being determined,
of monarch butterflies as have to look at our use of The forest canopy acts as time the monarchs have re- though it was clearly big-
they enter Mexico from the pesticides,” Jewell said. a sort of blanket against bounded, they have done ger than anything mea-
United States. “We have the goal of 225 the cold for butterflies that so at lower levels. The spe- sured so far, said Richard
The population of orange- million monarch butterflies form huge clumps on tree cies is found in many coun- Stumpf, a NOAA research-
and-black butterflies mak- returning right here, to Mex- branches during their win- tries and is not in danger of er.
ing the 3,400-mile (5,500-ki- ico, every year. We believe ter stay in Mexico. extinction, but experts fear The massive algae colony
lometer) migration from the we can get there by work- The migration is an inher- the migration could be dis- this year stayed toward
United States and Canada ing together.” ited trait: No butterfly lives rupted if very few butterflies the center of the lake be-
declined in recent years Mexico, too, still has prob- to make the full round trip, make the long trip.q tween Canada and Ohio
before recovering slightly in lems. and it is unclear how they and away from the shore-
2014, when the insects cov- line, which lessened the im-
ered about 2.79 acres (1.13 pact on boaters and drink-
hectares) in the mountains ing water plants, he said.
west of Mexico City. Toxins from a much smaller
The monarchs cluster so bloom in August 2014 con-
closely in trees that their taminated the tap water
numbers are measured by for 400,000 people in the
the area they cover. They Toledo area and a sliver of
once blanketed as much southeastern Michigan.
as 44 acres (18 hectares). Algae blooms — linked to
Pacchiano said the butter- phosphorus from farm fertil-
fly colonies could cover 3 or izers, livestock manure and
4 hectares (7.8 to 9.9 acres) sewage treatment plants
this year, and officials hope — have taken hold in the
to reach 6 hectares (14.8 western third of the lake
acres) in the reserves by over the last decade and
2020. colored some of its waters
“The United States is very a shade of green that looks
committed to protecting like pea soup.q
the monarch butterfly, but
we need the help of Mex-
