The Monarch

Bob Parcelles,Jr. rjparcelles at yahoo.com
Mon Jul 8 21:44:53 EDT 2002


Paul,

Ironic to say the least. the situation in Mexico, I believe is a
humidty "sink" a wind and temperature buffer to reduce the lowering
of temps. Plenty of nonmountain timber in Mexico to be harvested as
well as montane areas the Monarchs do not use.

Different than fire ecology as a mangement tool. I will not argue
that some limited clearcutting does  add to species diversity. Lets
just do it on state and private forests.

Bob
--- Paul Cherubini <monarch at saber.net> wrote:
> Stan Gorodenski wrote:
> > 
> > I just got back from the Pacific slope meeting of the Lep Soc.
> Ron
> > Leuschner gave a short summary of the meeting in South Carolina.
> > Apparently, it is now fact beyond dispute that 75% of the
> Monarchs died
> > in the freeze that had occurred in Mexico. This was caused by a
> rain
> > that preceeded the freeze. The rain got all the Monarchs wet and
> as a
> > result the normal congregating behaviour to prevent a freeze did
> not
> > work.
> 
> Conservation society articles say forest thinning (selective
> logging) 
> is to blame for the reason the butterflies get wet and freeze:
> http://www.saber.net/~monarch/wwf.jpg
> 
> But here is a scientific article 
> http://www.saber.net/~monarch/Picture122.JPG that concludes
> "it is clear from this study that  forest cover is not sufficient
> to protect
>  all butterflies within a colony from occassional winter storms..."
> 
> The article further speculates that a closed forest canopy
> - where the tips of the tree branches touch one-another - probably
> favors butterfly survival by helping to prevent butterflies from
> becoming
> saturated.
> 
> But this begs the question - is the present day closed canopy
> forest 
> in some monarch overwintering areas of Mexico a natural situation
> or
> the result of decades of fire suppression and cutting older trees?
> 
> Indeed most of the fir and pine trees in the monarch reserves in
> Mexico
> around only around 40 years old, grow very densely and the trunks
> are 
> about as thin as telephone poles (not exactly old growth forests).
> http://www.saber.net/~monarch/chincuadense.JPG
> 
> On the ecology-l listserve some forestry authorities pointed out
> that
> one reason the half million acre Show Low fire in northern Arizona 
> 
> burned so fiercely in recent weeks was because the forest is
> dominated
> by young pine trees (40-80 years old) growing more closely together
> than 
> than they used to when old growth forests existed in the area.  
> They attribute this situation to decades of fire suppression and
> selective logging of old trees, thus creating dense stands of young
> 
> trees with a more closed canopy than is natural. 
> 
> By analogy with the forest situation in northern Arizona, it
> appears
> possible that the present day closed canopy forest in Mexico, 
> which 
> some monarch scientists believe is important to prevent wetting of
> the 
> butterflies, is actually an artificial, man made forest situation
> due to
> decades of fire suppression and selective logging !
> 
> In other words,  when old growth forests used to exist in the
> monarch 
> overwintering area, the forest canopy may have provided less
> protection
> against butterfly wetting because the canopies were more open than
> they are today.
> 
> Ironic to say the least !
> 
> Paul Cherubini
> 
>  
>  ------------------------------------------------------------ 
> 
>    For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:
> 
>    http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl 
>  
> 


=====
Bob Parcelles, Jr
Pinellas Park, FL
RJP Associates & Clean Millennium Movement (C2M)
rjparcelles at yahoo.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturepotpourri
"Change your thoughts and you change your world."
- Norman Vincent Peale

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free
http://sbc.yahoo.com

 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl 
 


More information about the Leps-l mailing list