Mexico’s monarch population booms
Science Magazine IN SECTION: NEWS IN BRIEF Edited by Jeffrey Brainard Opens in modal lightbox Monarch butterflies clustered at a reserve in Mexico. PHOTO: BIOSPHOTO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO Viewable Image - mexicos monarch population booms Image Caption Monarch butterflies clustered at a reserve in Angangueo, Mexico. PHOTO: BIOSPHOTO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO Every winter, monarch butterflies in Canada and the northeastern and midwestern United States flock to the pine and fir forests of central Mexico to hibernate, covering trees and turning hectares of forest orange and black. This year, the butterfly population overwintering in Mexico more than doubled, according to World Wildlife Fund Mexico, which helps lead the annual count. The butterflies covered 6.05 hectares of forest, up from 2.48 last year. It’s the largest wintering area since the winter of 2006–07. This famous group of migrating monarchs has been struggling in recent years, with an all-time low arriving