Ernest Williams, the William R. Kenan Professor of Biology emeritus and lecturer in biology, was a co-author of an article published in the current issue of the Annals of the Entomological Society of America.
In “Conclusion of No Decline in Summer Monarch Population Not Supported,” he and his co-authors reported the results of their review of several recently published papers on trends in the abundance of monarch butterflies.
Three of the papers they reviewed and re-analyzed had asked whether the decrease in overwintering abundance is due to losses during the summer or at another time, perhaps during the fall migration. Williams and his co-authors pointed out that when evaluated fully, the evidence shows a serious decline in the summer breeding population.
The article was written with Williams’ colleagues from Iowa State University, Sweet Briar College, the University of Minnesota and the University of Kansas.
