Here are the responses for each section:
What they found:
- The overall numbers of butterflies in Ohio have decreased year over year for the past two decades—about 2 percent each year.
- When the researchers compared that rate to other long-term studies, the general decline matched the results of monitoring programs in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Spain.
- They looked to see if related species of butterflies were all doing better or worse and did not find a pattern.
- On the other hand, they did notice that butterflies more commonly found in southern Ohio tended to do better than the more northern butterflies.
- The wild indigo dusky-wing, a brown butterfly, is doing really well in Ohio because a plant it eats is used as erosion control on construction sites. It’s three times more numerous now than it was 20 years ago.
Why this matters:
- Butterflies pollinate flowers, control plant populations, and provide food for other insects, birds, amphibians, and mammals.
- Their decline could have cascading effects on forests, prairies, and even backyards across North America.
- Butterflies act as big, flashy beautiful warning signs for environmental change.
- The decline of Ohio’s butterflies has been captured through statistics and recorded data rather than anecdotes.
- One recent article warns that insects around the world are in the midst of a “gradual and very visible decline.”
- The solution to a worldwide insect decline won’t be simple; it’s “death by a thousand cuts.”
You can drag and drop the statements to their respective sections based on this organization.