"dire straits faced by most of our butterfly fauna"
Paul Cherubini
monarch at saber.net
Thu May 3 17:38:10 EDT 2007
patfoley wrote:
> Did you just shift your position from 1) There is no problem, so why are
> these scientists getting hysterical? to 2) The problem is so bad that
> these scientists can't do anything about it anyway, so why whine about it?
Pat, I havn't been expressing positions. I have only been asking
questions - such as whether or not it is reasonable for Shapiro to
assert that most of the 90 or so species of butterflies in the lower
Sacramento Valley are in "dire straights." So I will repeat and reword
my last question.
If Art Shapiro and other investigators were awarded millions of dollars
of public grant money to determine why "even weedy butterfly species
are not looking good" in the Central Valley, of California, then what?
Two practical hypothetical scenarios:
1). Shapiro determines increases in the range and abundance of several
non-native parasites, parasitoids and predators are responsible for
the declines in both the specialized and weedy butterfly species in the
Central Valley. Possible examples: Argentine ant, European
paper wasp, german yellow jacket, a new tachinid fly (Compsilura
concinnata), multicolored Asian lady bird beetle (Harmonia axyridis),
the seven-spotted lady beetle (Coccinella septempunctata). Then is
it even remotely conceivable that Shapiro or anyone else could come
up with effective and affordable parasite / predator abundance
mitigation measures?
To appreciate the impact of non-native predators recall that in 2004
Colorado State Professor Whitney Cranshaw reported the European
Paper Wasp: "has extirpated essentially every caterpillar in Ft. Collins,
Colorado by mid-July in the past 2 years and I am sure is having a
major ecological impact."
2. Shapiro determines urbanization has been replacing farmland
on a large scale as shown in this photo taken just south of Shapiro's
west Sacramento study site:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/sac.jpg Then is it even
remotely conceivable that Shapiro or anyone else could come up
with effective and affordable urbanization mitigation measures?
Paul Cherubini
El Dorado, Calif.
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