(CN) — A new study out of the University of Georgia published Friday shows that monarch butterflies aren't in peril — contrary to popular belief and previous records. Before, monarch butterfly population studies were done in smaller sets and the declining winter populations sent shockwaves through conservation groups.
This study analyzed over 135,000 monarch observations across North America between 1993 and 2018, making it the largest and most comprehensive survey of monarch butterfly populations to date.
Citizen scientists are to thank for the massive dataset utilized by the University of Georgia researchers. The North American Butterfly Association empowers communities across the continent to go out each summer and take butterfly counts. The groups count and identify all the butterflies they see within a 15-mile radius over two days, then send the results to the organization. Some count areas have been going for over 30 years, all done by the average Joe.
"It's a really amazing dataset that no single scientist — or even maybe all the entomologists in North America couldn't collectively get a data set like what these regular citizens have put together. It's really invaluable," said William Snyder, study co-author and professor at the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Andy Davis, a co-author author of the study and an assistant research scientist at the University of Georgia's Odom School of Ecology, explained that while wintering monarch populations have dropped, they aren't representative of the entire butterfly population. Instead, the spring migration is critical in maintaining healthy monarch numbers. A single monarch butterfly can lay over 500 eggs at one time, giving them tremendous spring rebounds and resilience.
Davis also noted that as far as a conservation outlook goes, the monarchs don't need support, and their population is increasing by about 1.36% per year.
"The shorter answer is they don't seem to be hurting for anything. That's crazy for people to hear, right? People think that monarchs are near extinction, largely because of the well-publicized declines in the wintering colonies. People have been planting milkweed and trying to help, and a lot of people have been doing all of these efforts, and most of that is good. So it's a little weird trying to explain to people that the monarchs are doing well," Davis said.
However, the debate over butterfly-minded milkweed planting is still alive and well. In certain areas, the milkweed is perpetuating a parasite that used to be found in only 1% of the monarch population. Ever since the conservation boom in the 2000s, the parasite has dramatically increased. This parasite could potentially be linked to non-native milkweeds, rearing of monarch butterflies in homes and classrooms or even monarch butterfly sellers. Luckily, checking a monarch for parasites is easy to do and is as simple as catching a monarch and using a test kit available through Project Monarch Health.
Snyder noted that, especially with insects, he had noticed a trend that if researchers focus too narrow in terms of time or geography, population counts can seem dire. Only when the studies zoom out and take a "calm, steady-eyed, big-picture look," can they find the actual fluctuations.
Follow @@smolestwriter
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
