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Monarch Value A Monarch Butterflies, Mexico story

Forests  / 
Wildlife
  1. Monarch Butterflies, Mexico
  2. Monarch Value
Description

The good news about the monarchs is that they are a beloved bug. Kids in classrooms nationwide capture the caterpillars and watch them transform into a chrysalis and eventually a monarch, learning all about life cycles along the way.

Increases in the area occupied at the overwintering sites are encouraging, but researchers continue to keep an eye on breeding habitats—milkweed restoration from Texas to Minnesota is key.

A recent study indicates that people would be willing to donate or buy nectar plants and milkweed to help preserve the monarchs’ habitat in their non-wintering locations. The willingness of Americans to buy nectar plants and milkweed could potentially be a multimillion dollar industry. Diffendorfer and others (2014) estimated that Americans are collectively willing to pay $933 million for nectar plants and $473 million for milkweed. That seems like a good start for the monarchs on their long journeys.

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

Monarch butterfly in Angangueo, Michoacan, Tomas Castelazo/Wikimedia Commons

Monarch butterfly in Angangueo, Michoacan, Tomas Castelazo/Wikimedia Commons

Monarch Butterflies, Mexico Additional Imagery & Stories

Degraded Habitats
Degraded Habitats

The monarch migration is an endangered phenomenon. Logging in the overwintering sites in Mexico reduces the area available for the monarchs. The Monar...

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Global Forest Maps
Global Forest Maps

Researchers from the University of Maryland and USGS have mapped changes in forests globally from 2000 to 2013. The maps displayed here are from that ...

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Lomas de Aparicio
Lomas de Aparicio

These close-up images show a portion of the reserve. The red spots in the global forest map indicate forest loss. The area in the center of the image ...

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NDVI
NDVI

Subtle changes in vegetation are sometimes difficult for us to see when just looking at the imagery. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)...

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Pelon
Pelon

These close-ups show another core zone area of the reserve called Pelon. Forest disturbance is most visible in the 2000 image. Later Landsat images re...

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