Researchers investigating the status of 114 species of butterflies in the United States found that populations are declining at a rate of nearly 8% a year, or a 50% decline in a decade. Of course, this is tragic because butterflies are important pollinators of plants, both wild and domestic, and serve other ecological roles. Climate change is one of the main reasons -- along with habitat loss -- for butterfly declines because it's causing butterflies to shift the time of their seasonal activities.
But this study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, also found that habitat management programs may play an important role in keeping some species from going extinct. Such human interventions are increasingly important to save Earth's biodiversity.
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