Government views Monarch Butterfly Releases as a threat to Western Milkweeds
Chip Taylor
chip at ku.edu
Fri Dec 7 19:30:15 EST 2001
As many of you know, Paul Cherubini has a pronounced tendency for
taking things out of context.
Here is the my entire posting to Dplex-l - it's long.
This text was prompted by a number of strong reactions to the
proposed USDA regulations posted to Dplex. My sense is that the USDA
will not go ahead with these proposed regulations unless it can be
shown that monarchs pose a credible threat to the threatened and
endangered milkweeds.
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To Dplex-l
Let's keep in mind that the regulations in question are proposed and
are not final. These proposed regulations have been offered for
public comment and once the comment period is over the regulations
are likely to be rewritten and submitted for comment once again. It
is appropriate for all who are concerned about this issue to provide
INFORMED commentary to the USDA. These comments should be addressed
to:
Docket No. 95-095-2,
Regulatory Analysis and Development,
PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03,
4700 River Road Unit 118,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
The comments should be mailed by 10 Dec.
USDA_APHIS is mandated to create appropriate regulations based on
scientific evidence rather than value judgements, emotions,
education, economics, or other considerations. It is up to us to help
provide this evidence and to urge that appropriate research be done,
should evidence be lacking, on a particular issue - such as whether
monarchs are even known to utilize the threatened milkweeds as
hostplants in OK and AZ. At present, there appears to be a conflict
between two regulations one that permits the shipping of widely
distributed migratory species such as monarchs and painted ladies and
another which seeks to protect threatened or endangered plants that
are potential hosts for monarchs.
Some of the questions we need to ask are:
Do monarchs actually use the species in question as hosts? In eastern
Kansas the endangered Asclepias meadii has been studied by two of
my colleagues and teams of students for about 10 years. We have also
looked at this plant most springs. To date no one has reported
finding monarch larvae feeding on this species.
Are monarchs common or rare during the time when these plants are
pre-senescent (i.e. potentially suitable hosts)?
Does herbivory by monarch larvae, if it occurs, actually constitute a
threat to long lived perennial milkweeds? (Meads milkweed appears to
live 100 years or more.)
We should also remind ourselves and those who might be concerned
about endangered milkweeds that both the monarchs and the milkweeds
have coexisted for many thousands of years. To the best of my
knowledge there is no example of a native herbivore that has
eliminated a native plant. {if anyone on leps-l can think of an such
an example, please let me know} (All examples of such negative
interactions involve introduced herbivores.)
The plants in question occur in remote areas where releases are
unlikely and we might ask whether a release of monarchs in Oklahoma
City could conceivably have an impact on a milkweed population in the
panhandle of OK hundreds of miles to the west.
And, we have to ask whether there are other more common and perhaps
overriding threats to these plants such as grazing, development, poor
land management, off road vehicles, etc.
For those of you interested in milkweeds and the areas in question
you can find more information on the following web sites.
A Review of Rare, Threatened and Endangered Plant Species in Northern Arizona
welshii
http://www.nau.edu/~envsci/sisk/courses/env440/SCBS/cecilia.htm
uncialis
http://www.ndis.nrel.colostate.edu/ndis/rareplants/PDASC02220.html
The following has a section about the causes of decline and its
recovery needs. Here they mention that Nebraska Statewide Arboretum
is doing research on the life history of this milkweed.
http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/asclepu.htm#decline
The university of New Mexico web site describes a couple of subspecies:
http://nmrareplants.unm.edu/droplist/dropa-c.htm
Asclepias nummularia (Asclepidaceae) - Populations of this species
occur peripherally in New Mexico (localized in the "boot heel" region
of the state) and are relatively common in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Asclepias uncialis ssp. ruthiae (Asclepidaceae) - This name may be
synonymous with Asclepias uncialis ssp. sanjuanensis.
Asclepias uncialis ssp. uncialis (Asclepidaceae) - The distribution
of this taxon is widespread from Wyoming to southwest Arizona.
(Curiously the proposed regulation only deals with that part of the
uncialis population in OK and CO when it appears that this species
has other subspecies in CO and WY.)
Chip
--
Monarch Watch
e: monarch at ku.edu
w: http://www.MonarchWatch.org/
Dplex-L: send message "info Dplex-L" to Listproc at ukans.edu
p: 1 (888) TAGGING (toll-free!) -or- 1 (785) 864 4441
f: 1 (785) 864 5321
usps: University of Kansas, Entomology Program, 1200 Sunnyside
Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-7534
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