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Contact: Ranjit Arab, University Relations, (785) 864-8855, or Orley "Chip" Taylor, Monarch Watch, (785) 864-4051.

KU conference will examine plight of monarch butterfly

LAWRENCE -- The cause of the sudden drop in the monarch butterfly population continues to baffle researchers.

It could be the weather. It could be human activity, such as deforestation, excessive herbicide use or new agricultural practices, including genetically engineered corn, which might produce pollen hazardous to the insect.

Or it could be any combination of these factors.

Whatever the cause, the North American monarch population shrank from about 100 million in winter 1999-2000 to about 30 million in winter 2000-01 -- the lowest figure since researchers began monitoring the insect's population in 1994.

A conference at the University of Kansas next week will address the issue by bringing together some of the field's most prominent researchers.

The Monarch Population Dynamics Meeting at KU from Sunday, May 20, to Wednesday, May 23, will feature 32 speakers and more than 90 participants examining the causes of the dramatic year-to-year changes in monarch populations.

The conference also has the goal of developing a comprehensive plan to help the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico establish policies that lessen the impact of human activities on monarchs, said Orley "Chip" Taylor, professor of biological sciences at KU and one of the conference organizers.

"We need to determine if changes in agricultural practices or habitat restoration are needed," he said. "But before we can do that, we need to get the data on the causes of the fluctuations in monarch numbers, so this conference is the first step."

Taylor, who also heads Monarch Watch, a KU-based education, conservation and research program, said the conference is the start of an attempt to understand the annual dynamics of a migratory species with a continental distribution, an effort that will require collaboration among scientists and large numbers of concerned citizens.

Also, he said, close examination of the monarch might help discover factors that affect other North American insect populations, since the butterflies migrate from as far north as Nova Scotia, Canada, to as far south as central Mexico.

"We need to sort this out," Taylor said. "We're trying to develop a long-term policy to conserve the monarch migration in eastern North America."

Taylor said interested members of the general public are welcome at the research conference. Registration is $50 per day, which includes lunch.

For more information about the conference or Monarch Watch, call (785) 864-4051.