Posted on 06/09/2014 5:05:10 AM PDT by NowApproachingMidnight
The main cause of the monarch butterfly's decline is the loss of milkweed — its food — in its U.S. breeding grounds, a new study has found. That all but confirms that the spread of genetically modified crops is indirectly killing the monarch.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbc.ca ...
They came for the Monarchs and I said nothing...
Bull flap. They use insecticide for non GM crops just as much or possibly more(if the crop is modified to repulse insects )
WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!
I remember when it was the frogs that were mysteriously disappearing, by the way.
Monarch butterflies threatened by GM crops in U.S., study says
The evidence points to the U.S. corn belt, where increased cultivation of genetically modified corn and soybean crops comes with a devastating side effect for milkweed.
When GM crops are planted, fields are sprayed with herbicides to wipe out any wild plants that don`t share the crops’ genetically engineered protection. In the past, herbicides would typically be applied early in the growing season, when milkweed seeds are still underground. With GM crops, the spraying happens later, and any milkweed growing adjacent to the crops is hit hard.
Even before GM crops were adopted, milkweed was never overly abundant. Farmers found only “30 or 40 stems per acre,” said Chip Taylor, an insect ecologist at the University of Kansas who was not involved in the study.
Despite the modest number plants, a survey done in 2000 found that “corn and soybean fields were producing more monarchs per acre than anything else,” said Dr. Taylor, who is also the director of Monarch Watch, a conservation and outreach group.
I’m not a scientist and I don’t know anything about butterflies other than they are pretty.
Don’t forget the Bees. They are actually more important. LOL
I’d say a lot of foreign bugs getting into this country are a bigger worry. Both human and insect variety.
People forget Typhoid Mary. 1 infected person can spread all kinds of disease. Look at the rise in TB with the ILLEGAL INVADERS from mexico where that an many other child hood disease we had irradiated due to vaccines.
Sure it is not the massive use of pesticides,herbicides, etc by Big Agribiz?
still say it is bogus....sounds like a plan to vilify technology that will keep us fed. another zer0 plan to make us 3rd world material.
Whoa, why do they only herbicide practice this method for GMO crops?
Our bodies are not designed to handle GM foods.
Bush’s fault.
This can be solved by paying a mere $100 billion to farmers to plant milkweed fields. Maybe if you could make overpriced ethanol from milkweed you could double up on the federal gravy train. (I wish I was joking, but someone will seriously propose it.)
Exactly, the conventional pesticides for insect control for corn and soybeans are far more dangerous to butterflies (and to humans). But you can fool some of the people all of the time...and it is a good fund raising project for University researchers and groups like Greenpeace and Fiends of the Earth who have been carrying this message now for 20 years.
I thought the unusually cold winter(caused by Global Warming) in Northern Mexico was the main cause.
There are a few areas in N. Mexico that are the winter grounds for millions of monarchs.
One way or another it’s man’s fault. Esp. republicans.
What is the Monarch base line prior to corn farming?
Absent that number, the article is pure propaganda
Hmm... Growing up we had that much per 100 square feed in places. I used to love the milkweed plants as a kid. If the density has truly declined THAT much, then GM crops are not the cause. We used to also walk and hand spray beans back then. I think it means we have better herbicides (for now, the weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to RoundUp).
There were once plenty of big bull frogs around our lake.
Now, only tree frogs are seen hereabouts.
Exactly. But you can’t reason with some people. Sorry but I don’t eat gene splicing in my food....at the minimum it’s causing a destruction of normal GI flora, and who knows what else??
“There were once plenty of big bull frogs around our lake.”
I haven’t seen turtles, frogs, garden snakes, or rabbits around my property for years. We live on a wooded property too.
Even something as old as 2,4-D is used to control milkweed. GMO has nothing to do with it in this case. Many herbicides control milkweed.
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