Brower et al 2002 in Conservation Biology

[Patrick Foley]

Dear Lepsters,

For those of you seeking more fuel for the Monarch debate, the April
2002 issue of Conservation Biology has a quantitative study of Mexican
Monarch overwintering site habitat change. It is authored by Lincoln
Brower and 7 others and appears to be a careful GIS-based study of
forest cover, peer reviewed by several researchers. It does not address
all the questions sure to be raised by Paul Cherubini, but it is not
anecdotal activist hysteria. The study shows that forest degradation is
occurring in the overwintering site.

Paul's usual main point (besides that scientists and conservationists
are lying hypocrites) is that a little habitat degradation is not always
bad for the butterflies. I have no problem with that point (a recent
paper by Art Shapiro UCDavis make a related point that Butterflies in
urban Central Valley of California depend largely on introduced plants),
but I want Paul to remember in his response two things: 1) Butterflies
are not the only organisms worth saving, and 2) A little habitat
degradation is on the slippery slope to complete loss of habitat ( a
process that we in the Central Valley are very familiar with).

For a very short summary see this web site. For more you must go to the
library.
http://www.conbio.net/SCB/Services/Tips/2002-4-April.cfm

Cooling down in California,
Patrick Foley
patfoley at csus.edu


 
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