Each autumn, after the monarch butterflies have departed for their migration south to Mexico, the seed pods of milkweed plants scattered across the midwestern landscape split open to reveal a bounty of seeds.
This week's drizzly rain is sharing the stage with a few sunny, breezy days. Some of the milkweed plants at our team's monarch butterfly research plots are starting to die back and many of the late-season forbs are be
Milkweed is crucial to the survival of the monarch butterfly, but since the Midwest was settled and turned to agriculture a lot of the habitat has gone.
Field season is now underway and the first monarch eggs found by our research team are at the Iowa State University Sorenson Farm research plots east of Ames.
AMES, Iowa – With the population of monarch butterflies in North America declining sharply, there is fear that the species’ migration between Mexico and the United State could be in peril.
AMES, Iowa – An Iowa State University researcher has helped carry out the scientific equivalent of gazing into a crystal ball to see what the future holds for the declining population of the monarch butterfly in North America.
AMES, Iowa — Although the number of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico has sharply rebounded, leaders of the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium, say that sustained efforts of Iowa crop and livestock farmers, landowners, conservationists
Are you suffering from cabin fever after the brisk weather these past few weeks? Meaghan Anderson, field agronomist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, isn't letting the cold temperatures dampen her spirits.
