• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / News / Researcher from ISU says don’t let up in effort to help monarch butterflies

Researcher from ISU says don’t let up in effort to help monarch butterflies

August 7, 2017 By Radio Iowa Contributor

Monarch butterfly. (Photo by Karl Schilling)

The decline of monarch butterfly populations is getting much attention, but lately, there’s doubt about the severity of the decline and whether it’s caused by the disappearance of milkweed, the only plant on which monarchs lay eggs.

Iowa State University researcher John Pleasants says monarch populations in the Midwest may appear stable because the counts are taken in open areas where the butterflies can find milkweed.

Pleasants says, “The key thing that has happened over the last two decades is monarch activity has shifted out of agricultural fields into these nonagricultural areas where the censuses are made.” Herbicides have killed off many of the milkweed plants and Pleasants concludes monarchs are fewer in number because of it.

“Yes, it’s the loss of milkweed that’s responsible, and yes, all these efforts by many, many people to go out and try to put milkweeds on the landscape, that’s a good thing, it has a sound scientific basis.”

Pleasants estimates at least 1.6 billion new milkweed stems need to be planted in the Midwest to restore the monarch population. He made his comments on the Iowa Public Radio’s program “Talk of Iowa.”

(Thanks to Rob Dillard, Iowa Public Radio)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: News, Outdoors

Featured Stories

Exhibit features lesser known works of Grant Wood

Testing finds 21 new CWD cases in deer

It may become a crime in Iowa to use fake urine in workplace drug tests

February trending 18 degrees below average temperature

Iowa House Education Committee votes to end tenure at UI, ISU, UNI

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa’s Jack Nunge lost for the season

Key stretch begins for #9 Iowa

Drake’s Roman Penn lost for the season

Drake’s DeVries named to Naismith watch list

State wrestling opens with limited attendance

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2021 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC