An ecological auto-ethnography of a monarch butterfly

Abstract

As I sit in the beautiful sunshine here on the central coast of California, I look around and see that there are far fewer of my family than there used to be. I begin to wonder how much longer my kin will be able to continue our existence. I am a Monarch Butterfly, or Danaus plexippus for those who are more focused on scientific nomenclature, and one among a rapidly dwindling species of butterflies in North America. I am taking this opportunity to provide you with the background on how we got to be a threatened species and what are the factors that have caused and continue to cause our decline. In doing so, I will also provide some context on what used to be the life of our species including details of our annual migration and the changes to our habitat here in North America. In doing so, I will discuss the impact of the regulatory environment on the continuation of our way of life.