Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bernadette M. Mach, William Long, Jaret C. Daniels, Adam G. Dale
Summary: Anthropogenic disturbance is causing global biodiversity loss, affecting the monarch butterfly which relies on milkweed. Planting ornamental milkweed in urban landscapes seems beneficial for the conservation of monarch butterflies. However, sap-feeding insect herbivores, such as the oleander aphid, can negatively impact monarch conservation efforts by reducing plant quality and triggering plant defenses.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
John H. Boyle, Susan Strickler, Alex D. Twyford, Angela Ricono, Adrian Powell, Jing Zhang, Hongxing Xu, Ronald Smith, Harmony J. Dalgleish, Georg Jander, Anurag A. Agrawal, Joshua R. Puzey
Summary: This study examines the demographic history of the monarch butterfly and its host plant, the common milkweed. The research shows that both species have experienced population expansion and no evidence of population decline. The decline in monarch butterfly abundance observed in recent years may be due to a mismatch between the overwintering census population and the effective population size.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bernadette M. Mach, William Long, Jaret C. Daniels, Adam G. Dale
Summary: Anthropogenic disturbance is causing global biodiversity loss, including the specialized monarch butterfly. In response, ornamental milkweed plantings are becoming more common in urban landscapes and have been shown to have conservation value for monarch butterflies. However, sap-feeding insect herbivores, such as the oleander aphid, often reach high densities on these plants. Aphid-infested milkweed may hinder monarch conservation efforts by reducing host plant quality and inducing plant defenses.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Annie J. Krueger, Leslie C. Rault, Emily A. Robinson, Thomas J. Weissling, Ana M. Velez, Troy D. Anderson
Summary: The effects of high and low cardenolide milkweed species on the physiology of monarch caterpillars were investigated. It was found that different milkweed species can affect detoxification enzyme activity and gene expression.
PESTICIDE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Stephanie D. Preston, Julia D. Liao, Theodore P. Toombs, Rainer Romero-Canyas, Julia Speiser, Colleen M. Seifert
Summary: The study found that people often described encounters with monarchs in childhood and as adults, expressing strong positive emotions and awe at their beauty and lifecycle. Sharing personal encounters was associated with current efforts to save the species and more past financial donations, while more donations were tied to awe at the monarch's mass migration.
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yasmin Leila Safe, Valeria Springer, Marcelo Avena
Summary: A study proposes an efficient method using an activated carbon/magnetite mixture adsorbent for fast removal of neonicotinoid insecticides. The adsorption capacity of the adsorbent was 192 mg g-1, and the removal of the target molecule was achieved in only 10 minutes. This research demonstrates the potential applications of the studied mixture in water cleaning technologies and analytical systems.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jay E. Diffendorfer, Ryan G. Drum, Greg W. Mitchell, Eduardo Rendon-Salinas, Victor Sanchez-Cordero, Darius J. Semmens, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Ignacio J. March
Summary: This paper discusses the elements and successful practices of interdisciplinary teams in addressing complex conservation issues caused by various social and environmental factors, with a focus on the conservation science of the monarch butterfly in North America.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Yanhong Feng, Suash Deb, Gai-Ge Wang, Amir H. Alavi
Summary: Swarm intelligence involves the Monarch butterfly optimization (MBO) algorithm inspired by the migration behavior of monarch butterflies. Through migration and adjusting operations, individuals in MBO are updated to solve global optimization problems. This paper reviews the MBO algorithm, its modifications, applications, and suggests future research directions.
EXPERT SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Biology
Tyler J. Grant, Kelsey E. Fisher, Niranjana Krishnan, Alexander N. Mullins, Richard L. Hellmich, Thomas W. Sappington, James S. Adelman, Joel R. Coats, Robert G. Hartzler, John M. Pleasants, Steven P. Bradbury
Summary: This study integrated spatially explicit modeling, empirical movement ecology, and pesticide toxicology studies to simulate population outcomes for different habitat establishment scenarios of the North American monarch butterfly. The research suggests that breeding monarchs in the North Central states are resilient to pesticide use and habitat fragmentation, and establishing new habitat can enhance adult monarch recruitment.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Niranjana Krishnan, Yang Zhang, Melanie E. Aust, Richard L. Hellmich, Joel R. Coats, Steven P. Bradbury
Summary: In order to conserve the eastern monarch butterfly population in North America, it is necessary to establish milkweed and nectar plants in the agricultural landscapes of the north central United States. Various insecticides were tested for toxicity, with chlorantraniliprole and beta-cyfluthrin being the most toxic to all life stages, while thiamethoxam and chlorpyrifos were generally the least toxic.
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rodrigo Solis-Sosa, Arne O. Mooers, Maxim Larrivee, Sean Cox, Christina A. D. Semeniuk
Summary: The research found that concentrating milkweed growth in the central region is more effective in increasing the size of overwintering colonies compared to equivalent growth in the southern region, with growth in the northern region having minimal impact. While increasing milkweed stems in the south does not play a key role in increasing colony size, it is crucial for maintaining the population above a critically small size.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Ashish Nainwal, Yatindra Kumar, Bhola Jha
Summary: Heart attack is a leading cause of death globally, and heart-related diseases have resulted in increased healthcare expenditure. This study proposes a method for diagnosing arrhythmia based on electrocardiogram signals, utilizing long-term recording devices to capture rare abnormal events. By optimizing feature vectors and applying convolutional neural networks for signal classification, the proposed method achieves comparably high classification accuracy.
JOURNAL OF KING SAUD UNIVERSITY-COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Thorsten E. Hansen, Laramy S. Enders
Summary: Plants produce defensive chemicals to protect themselves from insect herbivores, and these chemicals may also affect the microbial communities associated with plants and insects. This study investigates the impact of different milkweed species, which produce varying levels of toxic cardiac glycosides, on the diversity and composition of monarch butterfly and milkweed bacterial communities. The results show that each milkweed species has distinct microbial communities, but monarch feeding has little effect. Furthermore, host plant species may influence the microbiomes of monarch caterpillars.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Katie M. Harris, Damon M. Hall, Deborah L. Finke
Summary: In July 2022, the North American monarch butterflies were declared Endangered due to a significant decline in population. Despite this, there are no national laws protecting monarchs in the United States. State wildlife agencies have a crucial role in monarch conservation through their conservation plans, but these plans often lack coordination and fail to prioritize critical areas of monarch flyways.
CONSERVATION LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
M. Jerome Beetz, Christian Kraus, Basil el Jundi
Summary: The study identified goal-direction neurons in the butterfly brain that specifically encode the insect's desired flight direction during spatial orientation.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)