Ever since the start of the Industrial Revolution, there has been an anthropogenic rise in greenhouse gas emissions, leading to global warming, an annually rising average temperature. Global warming, along with climate change, defined as long-term shifts in weather patterns, has shown its impacts through increased precipitation, wildfires, rising sea levels, extreme storms, and droughts, all of which are altering ecosystems. Our visit to the American Museum of Natural History and its exhibit of the Davis Family Butterfly Vivarium sparked our interest in these butterflies that we were afraid to approach yet mesmerized by their beauty. However, why did we connect our research to temperature? Well, it was the temperature and the humidity of the exhibit that made two of us leave immediately. This got us wondering about the thousands of butterflies that aren’t showcased and how our current weather patterns might affect them during these abnormal conditions. Therefore, our project focuses on the effects of temperatures on Monarch Butterflies by answering the question: Can they tolerate heat? Does Heat Matter? Do we need to pay more attention to them as the temperature hints at their decline?
Monarch Butterflies play a vital role in maintaining a balanced ecosystem as major pollinators. Their populations have been declining significantly as their migrations between North America and Mexico have been affected due to the rising heat. After conducting our research, we found that there is a weak correlation between the temperature and Monarch Butterfly decline. In other words, while temperature does affect Monarch Butterflies as they are sensitive to temperature change, there is more that has yet to be discovered regarding population decline. Throughout our research, we found that more data needs to be collected about this species including the availability of milkweed, obstacles during their migrations, and overwintering sites. From our poster, we want all of you to know that there are limitations due to a lack of relevant information and the next steps mean going out, observing our natural world, and sharing them so more research can be conducted to investigate what are the different factors affecting their population with resources or strategies that can help us prevent this in the near future.