Resilience or Catastrophe? A possible state change for monarch butterflies in western North America
Abstract
In the western United States, the population of migratory monarch butterflies is on the brink of collapse, having dropped from several million butterflies in the 1980s to ~2000 butterflies in the winter of 2020–2021. At the same time, a resident (non‐migratory) monarch butterfly population in urban gardens has been growing in abundance. The new resident population is not sufficient to make up for the loss of the migratory population; there are still orders of magnitude fewer butterflies now than in the recent past. The resident population also probably lacks the demographic capacity to expand its range inland during summer months. Nonetheless, the resident population may have the capacity to persist. This sudden change emphasises the extent to which environmental change can have unexpected consequences, and how quickly these changes can happen. We hope it will provoke discussion about how we define resilience and viability in changing environments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jun 10, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1111/ele.13816
Entities
People
- Cheryl B. Schultz
- Elizabeth E. Crone
Organizations
- Tufts University
- United States Department of Defense
- Washington State University