I was looking for info about how global warming has affected the Monarch butterfly migration. Not necessarily about "dna change" in insects, but something showing something is up. This is all I found .. plus a note that the migration has a distinct pattern. Those butterflies originating west of the Rockies go to California and those east of the Rockies go to Mexico.
Mexico expects more monarch butterflies
As many as 200 million monarch butterflies are expected to head south to Mexico this year, a nearly tenfold increase over last year.
Pollution, harsh weather and deforestation limited the number that made the trek last year to fewer than 23 million butterflies.
Low numbers have recuperated in the past, said Jose Bernal, director of inspection for Mexico's environmental protection agency, Profepa.
In 2000-2001, cold weather limited the butterfly population to 28 million. Numbers jumped to 93 million the next year.
A new counting system should help scientists to get a better estimate of how many butterflies live in each acre of territory, he said.
Agency prosecutor Hector Gonzalez said officials have stopped 80 per cent of deforestation, reduced arrests for illegal logging, and seized less timber from butterfly habitats. Satellite images also show deforestation is down.
To discourage illegal logging, Mexican officials are trying to create tourism and construction jobs in the butterfly areas.
The monarchs migrate 5,500 kilometres from eastern Canada and parts of the U.S. to the mountains of central Mexico.
The migration is expected to last until December.
Mexico expands, protects butterfly sanctuary
Last Updated Fri, 10 Nov 2000 16:19:48 EST
MEXICO CITY - Efforts to protect the winter nesting grounds of monarch butterflies are underway in Mexico. President Ernesto Zedillo says his country will link several existing mountaintop nature reserves into one continuous corridor, and pay inhabitants not to log the area.
A $5 million fund to compensate the estimated 60,000 inhabitants for lost logging rights has been set up by the World Wildlife Fund, WWF, the Mexican Fund for Natural Conservation and the Mexican government.
The announcement comes two months after a study showing 44 per cent of the fir forests that shelter the migrating butterflies have been damaged or destroyed over the last 29 years. The trees have been cut both by local communities and by big logging companies.
The cool shade of the forest, in which the monarchs drape themselves by the millions, is a necessary part of the butterflies' migration, protecting them from excessive cold, rain and wind.
New solutions to old problems
According to the WWF, using an economic incentive to protect a natural area is an innovative concept in Mexico. A spokesperson said in the past, land-use restrictions were imposed without compensation and often led landowners to increase illegal activities like logging.
Each year, monarch butterflies complete a 5,000 kilometre migration from the United States and Canada back to their wintering grounds of the year before, in Mexico.
No one butterfly completes the entire trip. As one generation dies, their offspring, born en route, continue the migration where their parents left off. Scientists don't fully understand how this next generation of butterflies manages to find a place they've never visited.
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