Bicycling with Butterflies, Selected References
Dr. Chip Taylor, monarch researcher and steward, admirably takes the time to share the science he and his colleagues are uncovering with the public. Science helps us see, and the more that see, the more there are to guide us all.
I began my bicycle adventure knowing only the basics of the monarch migration. I learned more with every mile, and the more I learned the more reverent I became. Science became my road map to falling in love with monarchs.
I’ve compiled a list of refences cited in Bicycling with Butterflies. This list, organized by chapter, includes books, articles, and a few websites (for websites, I linked to the specific pages I cited for each chapter). This list is for anyone wishing to go down some of science’s many rabbit holes, discover the monarch’s many secrets, and fall in love with Danaus plexippus, as I did.
The majority of the cited are peer-reviewed papers. They can be daunting to read, but treat any jargon you encounter as you would a speedbump rather than a gate. And remember, behind each paper is a team of scientists, taking the time to looks so we all may see. These scientists point us to truths, guide our understanding, and gift us the intimacy of intricacy. They are heroes, and I owe my trip to them.
Enjoy!
Arriving at the Start
Anderson, J. B., and L. P. Brower. 1996. Freeze‐protection of overwintering monarch butterflies in Mexico: critical role of the forest as a blanket and an umbrella. Ecological Entomology 21: 107–116.
Brower, L. P., E. H. Williams, D. A. Slayback, L. S. Fink, M. I. Ramírez, R. R. Zubieta, M. Ivan Limon Garcia, P. Gier, J. A. Lear, and T. Van Hook. 2009. Oyamel fir forest trunks provide thermal advantages for overwintering monarch butterflies in Mexico. Insect Conservation and Diversity 2: 163–175.
Oberhauser, K. S., and A. Peterson. 2003. Modeling Current and Future Potential Wintering Distributions of Eastern North American Monarch Butterflies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100 (24): 14063–14068.
Rendón-Salinas, E., and G. Tavera-Alonso. 2013. Monitoreo de la superficie forestal ocupada por las colonias de hibernación de la Mariposa Monarca en diciembre de 2013.
Rendón-Salinas, E., F. Martínez-Meza, M. Mendoza-Pérez, M. Cruz-Piña, G. Mondragon-Contreras, and A. Martínez-Pacheco. 2019. Superficie forestal ocupada por las colonias de hibernación de Mariposa Monarca en Mexico durante la hibernación de 2018–2019.
The Monarchs’ Winter Neighbors
Brower, L.P., D. R. Kust, E. Rendón-Salinas, E. García-Serrano, K. R. Kust, J. Miller, C. Fernandez Del Rey, and K. Pape. 2004. Catastrophic Winter Storm Mortality of Monarch Butterflies in Mexico in January 2002. In The Monarch Butterfly: Biology and Conservation, edited by K. M. Oberhauser and M. J. Solensky. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 151–166.
Eligio García Serrano, El Fondo Monarca. Personal communication with author, June 7, 2020.
Missrie, M. 2004. Design and Implementation of a New Protected Area for Overwintering Monarch Butterflies in Mexico. In The Monarch Butterfly: Biology and Conservation, edited by K. S. Oberhauser and M. J. Solensky. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 141–150.
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve World Heritage Site nomination document. 2007.
Mónica Missrie, Monarch Butterfly Fund. Personal communication with author, June 8, 2020.
O. R. Taylor, Jr. Personal communication with author, June 7, 2020.
Savko, M. S. 2002. Ejidos, Monarchs, and Sustainability: Forest Management and Conservation in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve of Mexico. Thesis. Oregon State University.
Tucker, C. M. 2004. Community Institutions and Forest Management in Mexico's Monarch Butterfly Reserve. Society & Natural Resources 17 (7): 569–587.
Vidal O., J. López-García, and E. Rendón-Salinas. 2013. Trends in Deforestation and Forest Degradation after a Decade of Monitoring in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico. Conservation Biology 28 (1): 177–186.
Deserted Miles and Trials
Alonso-Mejía, A., E. Rendón-Salinas, E. Montesinos-Patiño, and L. Brower. 1997. Use of Lipid Reserves by Monarch Butterflies Overwintering in Mexico: Implications for Conservation. Ecological Applications 7 (3): 934–947.
Arellano-Guillermo, A., J. I. Glendinning, and L. P. Brower. 1990. Interspecific comparisons of the foraging dynamics of black-backed orioles and blackheaded grosbeaks on overwintering monarch butterflies in Mexico. In Biology and Conservation of the Monarch Butterfly, edited by S. B. Malcolm and M. P. Zalucki. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. 315–22.
Brower, L. P., C. J. Nelson, J. N. Seiber, L. S. Fink, and C. Bond. 1988. Exaptation as an Alternative to Coevolution in the Cardenolide-Based Chemical Defense of Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus L.) Against Avian Predators. In Chemical Mediation of Coevolution, edited by K. C. Spencer. New York: Academic Press. 447—475.
Oberhauser, K. S. 2004. Overview of Monarch Breeding Biology. In The Monarch Butterfly: Biology and Conservation, edited by K. M. Oberhauser and M. J. Solensky. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
A Milkweed Greeting
Baumle, K. 2017. The Monarch: Saving Our Most-Loved Butterfly. Pittsburgh, PA: St. Lynn’s Press.
Frey, D. 1997. Resistance to mating by female monarch butterflies. In 1997 North American Conference on the Monarch Butterfly, edited by J. Hoth, L. Merino, K. Oberhauser, I. Pisanty, S. Price, and T. Wilkinson. Canada: Commission for Environmental Cooperation. 79–87.
Hill, H. F., A. M. Wenner, and P. H. Wells. 1976. Reproductive Behavior in an Overwintering Aggregation of Monarch Butterflies. The American Midland Naturalist 95 (1): 10–19.
O. R. Taylor, Jr. Personal communication with author, December 20, 2019.
Oberhauser, K. S. 2004. Overview of Monarch Breeding Biology. In The Monarch Butterfly: Biology and Conservation, edited by K. S. Oberhauser and M. J. Solensky. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Oberhauser K. S., and D. Frey. 1999. Coercive Mating by Overwintering Male Monarch Butterflies. In The 1997 North American Conference on the Monarch Butterfly, edited by J. Hoth, L. Merino, K. Oberhauser, I. Pisanty, S. Price, and T. Wilkinson, 67–78. Montreal: Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
Solensky, M. J., and K. S. Oberhauser. 2004. Behavioral and Genetic Components of Male Mating Success in Monarchs. In The Monarch Butterfly: Biology and Conservation, edited by K. M. Oberhauser and M. J. Solensky. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Finding Refuge
Chasing Spring
Fadiman, D. Video. Lincoln Brower on What Good is a Butterfly (video). McKenzie, M (producer/editor) Vimeo.
O. R. Taylor, Jr. Personal communication with author, June 15, 2019.
Oberhauser, K. S., A. Alonso, S. B. Malcolm, E. H. Williams, and M. P. Zalucki. 2019. Lincoln Brower, champion for monarchs. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7 (149).
United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 2014. Petition to Protect the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) Under the Endangered Species Act.
Vidal, O., and E. Rendón-Salinas. 2014. Dynamics and trends of overwintering colonies of the monarch butterfly in Mexico. Biological Conservation (180): 165–175.
Remembering Tallgrass
Brower, L. P. 1997. Biological necessities for monarch butterfly overwintering in relation to the Oyamel forest ecosystem in Mexico. In The 1997 North American Conference on the Monarch Butterfly, edited by J. Hoth, L. Merino, K. Oberhauser, I. Pisanty, S. Price, T. Wilkinson, 11–28. Montreal: Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
Calvert, B. 2004. Two Methods of Estimating Overwintering Monarch Population in Mexico. In The Monarch Butterfly: Biology and Conservation, edited by K. S. Oberhauser and M. J. Solensky. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Craddock, H. A., D. Huang, P. C. Turner, L. Quirós-Alcalé, and D. C. Payne-Sturges. 2019. Trends in neonicotinoid pesticide residues in food and water in the United States, 1999–2015. Environmental Health 18 (7).
Hartzler, R. G., and D. D. Buhler. 2000. Occurrence of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) in cropland and adjacent areas. Agronomy Publications 32.
Rendón-Salinas, E., and G. Tavera-Alonso. 2013. Monitoreo de la superficie forestal ocupada por las colonias de hibernación de la Mariposa Monarca en diciembre de 2013.
Rendón-Salinas, E., F. Martínez-Meza, M. Mendoza-Pérez, M. Cruz-Piña, G. Mondragon-Contreras, and A. Martínez-Pacheco. 2019. Superficie forestal ocupada por las colonias de hibernación de Mariposa Monarca en Mexico durante la hibernación de 2018–2019.
The Nature Conservancy. 2010. Tallgrass prairie comparison map. Home of the Range. Seek 7 (1).
Thogmartin, W. E., J. E. Diffendorfer, L. López-Hoffman, K. Oberhauser, J. Pleasants, B. X. Semmens, D. Semmenss, O. R. Taylor Jr., R. Wiederholt. 2017. Density estimates of monarch butterflies overwintering in central Mexico. PeerJ 5:e3221.
Vidal O., J. López-García, and E. Rendón-Salinas 2014. Trends in deforestation and forest degradation after a decade of monitoring in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico. Conservation Biology 28 (1):177–86.
Zaya, D. N., I. S. Pearse, G. Spyreas. 2017. Long-Term Trends in Midwestern Milkweed Abundances and Their Relevance to Monarch Butterfly Declines. BioScience 67 (4): 343–356.
Harnessing Science
O. R. Taylor, Jr. Personal communication with author, December 27, 2019.
Taylor, O. R. Jr., J. P. Lovett, D. L. Gibo, E. L. Weiser, W. E. Thogmartin, D. J. Semmens, J. E. Diffendorfer, J. M. Pleasants, S. D. Pecoraro, and R. Grundel. 2019. Is the Timing, Pace, and Success of the Monarch Migration Associated with Sun Angle? Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7: 442.
Hope in the Corn
Capehart, T., and S. Proper. 2019. Corn is America’s largest crop in 2019. USDA Economic Research Services blog.
Clark, P. 2012. Milkweed fruits: Pods of plenty. The Washington Post: Urban Jungle, September 25.
Davis, A. K., H. Schroeder, I. Yeager, and J. Pearce. 2018. Effects of simulated highway noise on heart rates of larval monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus: implications for roadside habitat suitability. Biology Letters 14 (5).
Emilie Snell-Rood. Personal communication with author, December 17, 2019.
Hollingsworth, J. 2019. Climate change could pose ‘existential threat’ by 2050. CNN, June 4.
Pimentel, D. 2003. Ethanol Fuels: Energy Balance, Economics, and Environmental Impacts Are Negative. Natural Resources Research 12: 127–134.
Pleasants, J. M. 2015. Monarch butterflies and agriculture. In Monarchs in a Changing World: Biology and Conservation of an Iconic Butterfly, edited by K. S. Oberhauser, K. R. Nail, and S. M.Altizer. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
United States Department of Agriculture. 2019. Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S.: Recent Trends in GE Adoption. USDA Economic Research Service, Data Products.
Spring to Summer
Prudic, K. L., S. Khera, A. Sólyom, and B. N. Timmermann. 2007. Isolation, Identification, and Quantification of Potential Defensive Compounds in the Viceroy Butterfly and its Larval Host–Plant, Carolina Willow. Journal of Chemical Ecology 33 (6): 1149–59.
Ritland, D. B., and L. P. Brower. 1991. The viceroy butterfly is not a Batesian mimic. Nature 350 (6318): 497–498.
United States Department of Agriculture
A Summer Break to Bike
De Anda, A., and K. S. Oberhauser. 2015. Invertebrate natural enemies and stage-specific mortality rates of monarch eggs and larvae. In Monarchs in a Changing World: Biology and Conservation of an Iconic Butterfly, edited by K. S. Oberhauser, K. R. Nail, and S. M. Altizer. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
The North Lands
Zhu, H., R. J. Gegear, A. Casselman, S. Kanginakudru, and S. M. Reppert. 2009. Defining behavioral and molecular differences between summer and migratory monarch butterflies. BMC Biology 7 (14).
Welcoming “Weeds”
Agrawal, A. A., J. G. Ali, S. Rassman, and M. Fishbein. 2015. Macroevolutionary trends in the defense of milkweeds against monarchs. In Monarchs in a Changing World: Biology and Conservation of an Iconic Butterfly, edited by K. S. Oberhauser, K. R. Nail, and S. M. Altizer. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Koh, I., E. V. Lonsdorfa, N. M. Williams, C. Brittain, R. Isaacs, J. Gibbs, and T. Ricketts. 2015. Modeling the status, trends, and impacts of wild bee abundance in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (1): 140–145.
Wozniacka, G. 2013. Beekeepers, environmentalists sue EPA for not suspending pesticides that may harm bees. Associated Press, March 21.
Along the Atlantic
Bartel, R. A., K. S. Oberhauser, J. C. de Roode, and S. M. Altizer. 2011. Monarch butterfly migration and parasite transmission in eastern North America. Ecology 92 (2): 342–351.
Faldyn, M. J., M. D. Hunter, and B. D. Elderd. 2018. Climate change and an invasive, tropical milkweed: an ecological trap for monarch butterflies. Ecology 99 (5): 1031–1038. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecy.2198
Majewska, A. A., and S. Altizer. 2019. Exposure to Non-Native Tropical Milkweed Promotes Reproductive Development in Migratory Monarch Butterflies. Insects 10 (8): 253. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects10080253
Monarch Joint Venture. https://monarchjointventure.org/images/uploads/documents/OE_fact_sheet_Updated.pdf
O. R. Taylor, Jr. Personal communication with author, June 17, 2020.
Reppert, S. M., and J. C. de Roode. 2018. Demystifying monarch butterfly migration. Current Biology 23: 1009–1022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.02.067
Satterfield, D. A., J. C. Maerz, and S. Altizer. 2015. Loss of migratory behaviour increases infection risk for a butterfly host. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282 (1801). http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1734
Stager, J. C., B. Wiltse, J. B. Hubeny, E. Yankowsky, D. Nardelli, and R. Primack. 2018. Climate variability and cultural eutrophication at Walden Pond (Massachusetts, USA) during the last 1800 years. PLOS ONE 13 (4): e0191755. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191755
Taylor, O. R. Jr., J. P. Lovett, D. L. Gibo, E. L. Weiser, W. E. Thogmartin, D. J. Semmens, J. E. Diffendorfer, J. M. Pleasants, S. D. Pecoraro, and R. Grundel. 2019. Is the Timing, Pace, and Success of the Monarch Migration Associated with Sun Angle? Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7: 442. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00442
Back Toward Canada
Hristov, N. I., and W. E. Conner. 2005. Sound strategy: acoustic aposematism in the bat–tiger moth arms race. Naturwissenschaften 92 (4): 164–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-005-0611-7
Canada, Take Two
Darlene Burgess, Personal communication with author, June 15, 2020.
Don Davis, Personal communication with author, June 15, 2020.
Flockhart, D. T. T., B. Fitz-gerald, L. P. Brower, R. Derbyshire, S. Altizer, K. A. Hobson, L. I. Wassenaar, and D. R. Norris. 2017. Migration distance as a selective episode for wing morphology in a migratory insect. Movement Ecology 5 (7). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-017-0098-9
Freedman, M., and H. Dingle. 2018. Wing morphology in migratory North American monarchs: characterizing sources of variation and understanding changes through time. Animal Migration 5 (1): 61–73. http://doi:10.1515/ami-2018-0003
Journey North. https://journeynorth.org/tm/monarch/DavisDonBio.html
Journey North. https://journeynorth.org/tm/monarch/DiscoveryTale.html
Micah Freedman. Personal communication with author, January 8, 2020.
Monarch Watch. https://monarchwatch.org/press/press-briefing.html
Urquhart, F. 1976. Found at last: the monarch’s winter home. National Geographic 150 (2): 160–174
Schroeder, H., A. Majewska, and S. Altizer. 2020. Monarch butterflies reared under autumn‐like conditions have more efficient flight and lower post‐flight metabolism. Ecological Entomology 45 (3): 562–572 https://doi.org/10.1111/een.12828
Urquhart, F. 1976. Found at last: the monarch’s winter home. National Geographic 150 (2): 160–174
Maintaining the Lead
Sacchi, C. 1987. Variability in Dispersal Ability of Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, Seeds. Oikos 49 (2): 191–198. http://doi:10.2307/3566026
The Out-of-the-Way Way
Sáenz-Romero, C., G. E. Rehfeldt, P. Duval, and R. A. Lindig-Cisneros. 2012. Abies religiosa habitat prediction in climatic change scenarios and implications for monarch butterfly conservation in Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management 275: 98–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2012.03.004
Waldman, S. 2018. 2017 Was the Third Hottest Year on Record for the U.S. Scientific American: January 9. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/2017-was-the-third-hottest-year-on-record-for-the-u-s/
Straggling with Stragglers
Alonso-Mejia, A., E. Rendón-Salinas, E. Montesinos-Patino, and L. Brower. 1997. Use of lipid reserves by monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico: implications for conservation. Ecological Applications 7 (3): 934–947. https://doi.org/10.2307/2269444
Masters, A. R., S. B. Malcolm, and L. P. Brower. 1988. Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) thermoregulatory behavior and adaptations for overwintering in México. Ecology 69 (2): 458–467. https://doi.org/10.2307/1940444
O. R. Taylor, Jr. Personal communication with author, June 14, 2020.
Taylor, O. R. Jr., J. P. Lovett, D. L. Gibo, E. L. Weiser, W. E. Thogmartin, D. J. Semmens, J. E. Diffendorfer, J. M. Pleasants, S. D. Pecoraro, and R. Grundel. 2019. Is the Timing, Pace, and Success of the Monarch Migration Associated with Sun Angle? Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7: 442. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00442
The Southern Rewind
Guerra, P. A., and S. M. Reppert. 2013. Coldness Triggers Northward Flight in Remigrant Monarch Butterflies. Current Biology 23: 419–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.01.052
Reppert, S. M., and J. C. de Roode. 2018. Demystifying Monarch Butterfly Migration. Current Biology 23: 1009–1022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.02.067
Steven Reppert, Personal communication with author, December 12, 2020.
Crossing the Border
J. L. Tracy, Personal communication with author, June 21, 2020.
Kantola, T., J. L. Tracy, K. A. Baum, M. A. Quinn, and R. N. Coulson. 2019. Spatial risk assessment of eastern monarch butterfly road mortality during autumn migration within the southern corridor. Biology Conservation 231: 150–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.008
Mora Alvarez, B. X., R. Carrera-Treviño, and K. A. Hobson. 2019. Mortality of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) at two highway crossing “hotspots” during autumn migration in Northeast Mexico.sFrontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 7: 273. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00273