{"id":83122,"date":"2025-03-07T18:39:44","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T18:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cred.ai\/news\/?p=83122"},"modified":"2025-03-09T19:32:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T19:32:32","slug":"butterfly-populations-declining-nationwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cred.ai\/news\/2025\/03\/07\/butterfly-populations-declining-nationwide\/","title":{"rendered":"Butterfly Populations Declining Nationwide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Butterflies may be in serious danger. Over the past 25 years, the nationwide butterfly population has plummeted by 22 percent, according to new research published in the journal Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cButterflies have been declining the last 20 years,\u201d study co-author Nick Haddad, an entomologist at Michigan State University, said, according to the Associated Press<\/span><\/a>. \u201cAnd we don\u2019t see any sign that that\u2019s going to end.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The decline isn’t just speculation\u2014it\u2019s backed by an overwhelming amount of data. Thousands of volunteers have spent years meticulously observing butterfly populations, contributing to an enormous dataset. Scientists compiled 76,957 surveys from 35 different programs, comparing decades of records to track trends.<\/p>\n

The results are staggering. Researchers tallied 12.6 million butterflies over more than 20 years, CBS News<\/span><\/a> reports. A recent survey released last month found butterfly numbers at an all-time low\u2014fewer than 10,000 were recorded, a catastrophic drop from the 1.2 million counted in 1997.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIn just 30 or 40 years we are talking about losing half the butterflies (and other insect life) over a continent!\u201d David Wagner, a University of Connecticut entomologist who did not participate in the study, said. \u201cThe tree of life is being denuded at unprecedented rates.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Federal officials are now pushing to add monarch butterflies to the threatened species list. Of the 650 butterfly species across the U.S., an alarming number are disappearing. Study lead author Collin Edwards, an ecologist and data scientist at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, revealed that 96 species were so scarce they didn\u2019t even appear in the data. Another 212 species were too few in number to show any measurable trends.<\/p>\n

Climate change is a major culprit, researchers say, accelerating habitat loss and disrupting ecosystems. If current trends continue, butterflies\u2014once symbols of transformation and resilience\u2014could become yet another casualty of an environment in crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Butterflies may be in serious danger. Over the past 25 years, the nationwide butterfly population has plummeted by 22 percent, according to new research published in the journal Science. \u201cButterflies have been declining the last 20 years,\u201d study co-author Nick Haddad, an entomologist at Michigan State University, said, according to the Associated Press. \u201cAnd we …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":83123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[456],"tags":[114,1242,1243],"class_list":["post-83122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-news","tag-butterflies","tag-extinction"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nButterfly Populations Declining Nationwide - crednews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cred.ai\/news\/2025\/03\/07\/butterfly-populations-declining-nationwide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Butterfly Populations Declining Nationwide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Butterflies may be in serious danger. Over the past 25 years, the nationwide butterfly population has plummeted by 22 percent, according to new research published in the journal Science. \u201cButterflies have been declining the last 20 years,\u201d study co-author Nick Haddad, an entomologist at Michigan State University, said, according to the Associated Press. \u201cAnd we ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cred.ai\/news\/2025\/03\/07\/butterfly-populations-declining-nationwide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"crednews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-07T18:39:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-09T19:32:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cred.ai\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mohamed-nohassi-F88Ml5yt4fg-unsplash-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cred.ai staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cred.ai staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cred.ai\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/07\\\/butterfly-populations-declining-nationwide\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cred.ai\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/07\\\/butterfly-populations-declining-nationwide\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cred.ai staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cred.ai\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8132cf694e343ab4c8bd8a3da99e9c2\"},\"headline\":\"Butterfly Populations Declining Nationwide\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-07T18:39:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-09T19:32:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cred.ai\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/07\\\/butterfly-populations-declining-nationwide\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":300,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cred.ai\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/07\\\/butterfly-populations-declining-nationwide\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cred.ai\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/mohamed-nohassi-F88Ml5yt4fg-unsplash-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"news\",\"butterflies\",\"extinction\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Climate\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cred.ai\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/07\\\/butterfly-populations-declining-nationwide\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cred.ai\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/07\\\/butterfly-populations-declining-nationwide\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cred.ai\\\/news\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/07\\\/butterfly-populations-declining-nationwide\\\/\",\"name\":\"Butterfly Populations Declining Nationwide - 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