State of the Butterflies in the United States: A Roadmap for Recovery
I’m sure it’s not surprising to hear that butterflies are in decline, but the speed at which it is happening may be. Butterflies are being lost at a rate of 1.3% per year, which means more than one-fifth have disappeared over a 20-year period. These are just a couple of the alarming statistics that emerged from the work of the State of the Butterflies in the United States working group. The group was comprised of scientists from universities, agencies, and the Xerces Society. Their findings have been published in academic journals, including Science. Building on this, Xerces has just released State of the Butterflies in the United States, a report authored by members of the working group that presents a picture of the status of butterflies and offers a vision for how we can reverse the declines.To talk with us about the report and what we need to do are Scott Black and Cheryl Shultz. Scott is the executive director of the Xerces Society. His work has resulted in the protection and restoration of habitat on millions of acres of rangelands, forests, and farmland, as well as protection for many endangered species. Cheryl is a professor at Washington State University Vancouver, where she studies the ecology of at-risk species, particularly butterflies of the PNW prairies. Cheryl also is a long-time scientific advisor to the Xerces Society. ---Photo credit: Candace Fallon/Xerces SocietyThank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.
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Bug Banter Live! Building Pollinator Habitat
One of the most effective ways to contribute to pollinator conservation is to provide the essential components of pollinator habitat. To celebrate Pollinator Week, we invited a panel of Xerces experts to help us answer audience questions in this special Bug Banter Live episode. Bernardo Niño is a pollinator conservation specialist with Xerces Food Systems and Living Farms Project in California. Steve Armstead is a pollinator conservation and nature-based climate solutions specialist in Colorado. Emily May is the agricultural conservation lead with the Xerces pesticide reduction program. Kevin Burls is an endangered species conservation biologist in the western United States. ---Cover photo: Emily MayThank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.
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Pollinator Check-Up: Bee Health and Novel Monitoring Tools
In the face of insect decline, it is critical for us to understand pollinator health both in terms of influencing factors and how to monitor those impacts. Today we are specifically focusing on bees.To talk about some exciting research in this field is Dr. Laura (la-u-ra) Figueroa (fig-eh-row-ah). Laura is an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Conservation Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She was previously a National Science Foundation post-doctoral research fellow, and completed her PhD in entomology at Cornell University. Laura is broadly interested in insect conservation, with a focus on the health of pollinators in changing landscapes and the impacts of climate change. She has worked in temperate regions (primarily the Northeastern US) as well as in the tropics (in Costa Rica and in Colombia), and her active research program seeks to answer pressing questions in the field of pollinator conservation.---Photo: Sara Morris / CC BY-NC 2.0Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.
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How Habitat Kits Are Helping Save Pollinators
Creating habitats with native plants is one of the most impactful ways to help invertebrates. One of the programs at Xerces is helping people do just that by providing free Habitat Kits to communities in several regions of the US.Joining us to discuss our Habitat Kit Program is Giovanni Di Franco, Xerces Endangered Species Conservation Biologist and Pollinator Habitat Specialist. Gio is working to develop the habitat kit program in southern California, especially in the greater Los Angeles area. ---Photo: Nancy KirchhoffThank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.
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Stories from the Prairie: Life in a Resilient Ecosystem
Prairies are an ecosystem that historically spanned the center of this continent from the Rocky Mountains to east of the Mississippi and from Texas north to Saskatchewan. Although less than 5% of that prairie remains today, it is critical habitat for a number of invertebrates. Prairies are incredibly diverse and hold many exciting stories.To help us explore prairies and their critters is prairie ecologist Chris Helzer. Chris works for the Nature Conservancy as the Director of Science and Stewardship in Nebraska, where, among other things, he supervises TNC’s work on the Platte River Prairies and the Niobrara Valley Preserve. Chris also works to raise awareness about the value of prairies and prairie conservation through his photography, writing, and presentations. Chris is the author of The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States and Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter.---Photo: Justin Meissen/Flickr-CCThank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.
Join us as we explore the fascinating world of invertebrates and discover how to help these extraordinary animals. The Xerces Society is a nationwide non-profit organization that works to conserve invertebrates and their habitats. For more information go to xerces.org.
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