The world is losing monarch butterflies at a striking rate, as kinds of human activities destroy natural habitats. Climate change, with its extreme storms, prolonged droughts and warming temperatures, is to destroy the forest that serves as the butterfly's winter home.
Scientists believe, to help these lovely butterflies, it is necessary to create an ecosystem where the butterflies will be able to survive. They've decided to start a monumental project.
"It's an idea that may sound crazy, "said Cuauhtemoc Saenz-Romero, a forest geneticist, "but by the end of the century, it may be absolutely needed."
The butterflies that winter here seek shelter in the oyamel firs. The firs protect the butterflies from chilly winter rain and create a microclimate cold enough to keep the butterflies in a state of hibernation but not so cold as to kill them.
The region is warming at such an accelerated pace that the trees won't be able to adapt, scientists say, and will need help migrating to areas where the climate is predicted to be suitable for them in future years.
Over the last several years, the team of researchers has overseen the relocation of about 1, 000 young fir plants, which were growing at lower altitudes, up to higher—and cooler—elevations. They are now establishing the trees at even higher altitudes on other nearby mountains—seeding ecosystems now that monarchs could potentially use later if temperatures continue to rise.
Every winter is witnessing tens of thousands of butterflies in the new forests, some fluttering about and others resting in massive clumps on the firs, their bodies obscuring the branches and trunks.
A. They hope to expand the project.
B. There is still hope to restore the forests.
C. Their dense tops act as an umbrella for the butterflies.
D. But the biggest threat yet has only recently come into focus.
E. They are trying to move an entire forest 1, 000 feet up a mountain.
F. Scientists fear that climate change may kill off these firs altogether.
G. The project is believed to protect the butterfly and the natives as well.
