milkweed – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

*Loss of milkweed in Midwestern farm fields harms butterflies, a study shows*

If you’re a gardener, milkweed may not be at the top of your list.

But if you love Minnesota’s state insect—the monarch butterfly—maybe it should be.

Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed, but the plant is disappearing from what used to be a prime reservoir: Midwestern farm fields. A new study by University of Minnesota monarch expert Karen Oberhauser and her Iowa State colleague John Pleasants ties a decade-long decline in monarch populations to the loss of milkweed from the corn and soybean fields that blanket the region. (more…)

Global Warming May Reroute Evolution

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2011Environment, Nature, Scienceasclepias syriaca, asexual reproduction, carbon dioxide levels, cardenolides, chemical defenses, driving force of evolution, elevated carbon dioxide, environmental factors, genetic composition, global warming, heart poisons, interaction, mark hunter, milkweed, milkweed plants, monarch caterpillars, plant eating insects, plant evolution, plants and insects, rachel vannette, selection pressure

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Rising carbon dioxide levels associated with global warming may affect interactions between plants and the insects that eat them, altering the course of plant evolution, research at the University of Michigan suggests.

The research focused on the effects of elevated carbon dioxide on common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca. Milkweed is one of many plants that produce toxic or bitter chemical compounds to protect themselves from being eaten by insects. These chemical defenses are the result of a long history of interactions between the plants and insects such as monarch caterpillars that feed on them. (more…)

Tag Archives: milkweed

Milkweed Loss Hurts Monarchs

Global Warming May Reroute Evolution