The Sierra Club, both the Lone Star Chapter and Houston Regional Group, are interested in wildlife and natural ecosystems. That’s why the most recent information about butterflies is troubling.
The Xerces Society, which supports conservation of invertebrates, recently released, “State of the Butterflies in the United States: A Roadmap for Butterfly Conservation in the 21st Century.”
This report found that from long-term monitoring data, 2000-2020, with nearly 77,000 individual surveys via 35 monitoring programs, that butterflies across the United States have declined 1.3% each year which makes for a 22% decline. Seventy-two percent of 342 species of butterflies declined in abundance by 10% or more.
In the Southwest United States, where Texas is located, the greatest decline in abundance has occurred with a 37% decline. Sixty-nine species declined and only 1 increased during this 20-year monitoring period.
The three elements that have caused this decline are loss of habitat, pesticide use, and climate change. Habitat loss includes fragmented landscapes which make large, healthy, butterfly populations harder to maintain. Climate change can alter those habitats significantly.
According to the Xerces Society, to reclaim our butterfly populations we must protect, manage, create, and restore their habitat. This includes nectar plants and caterpillar host plants so that all life stages of butterflies are protected from insecticides and other pesticides.
Butterflies, besides being beautiful and fascinating to watch and study, provide pollination of crops, like cotton, provide energy via the food chain to birds spiders, lizards, and mammals, are used as models for education and scientific research, provide local economic benefits via butterfly tourism, and ensure our gardens reproduce via pollination which creates flowers, fruits, and vegetables.
What can we do? A lot! There are many strategies that can help bring back butterflies which include:
1. Protect habitat and maximize areas where butterfly populations exist.
2. Prepare and implement management plans with an emphasis on butterfly habitat diversity and resilience
3. Minimize exposure of butterflies and their habitat to pesticides.
4. For farms, ranches, and other “human working lands”, include butterfly protection and habitat in prairie strips and hedgerows, reduce pesticide applications and drift, use integrated pest management to reduce use and frequency of pesticide use, and increase biological and other more natural controls.
5. Prioritize the use of native plants that are nectar and caterpillar sources for butterflies.
There are many other strategies that the report provides as well as other helpful information. The Sierra Club recommends that its members and the public obtain a copy of the report, read the report, implement what you can at your own home or apartment, and advocate locally, state-wide, and nationally for butterfly protection, restoration, and mitigation projects.
If you have any questions, contact Brandt Mannchen, 281-570-7212, brandt_mannchen@comcast.net.