Passage V

With a Little Help from Friends

Quino checkerspot butterflies, each a red and black flutter of stained glass, ranging along the Pacific coast from Mexico to Canada. With temperatures rising in the butterflies’ southernmost habitats, plants that attract them are drying up, eliminating the insects’ food source at the caterpillar stage.

Conservation biologist Camille Parmesan, was dismayed to find that nearly three-fourths of the quino checkerspot population in southern California has vanished. On the other hand, those currently living now in the cool, wet climates of northern California and Canada are faring better. So, Parmesan has proposed a way to save the quarter-sized butterflies and that doing so, maintain biodiversity. Her plan, however, is raising eyebrows (66) .

Parmesan, along with others, advocates the use of “assisted migration,” which is an interesting and relatively new idea some biologists are considering. For migrating checkerspots, there’s an additional problem: Los Angeles lies directly in their path should they be inclined to try migrating to cooler climates. Parmesan is transporting cocoons north of L.A., hoping to augment the existing population by moving cocoons from one place to the other.

[1] Opponents of assisted migration sight as two deterrents the cost and the likelihood that human interference could turn a species into an invasive pest. [2] The cocoons are portable and, consequently, cheap to transport. [3] Parmesan, though, thinks the checkerspot is the perfect candidate for an assisted move. [4] She also notes that the butterfly isn’t prolific enough to endanger its adopted habitat. (71)

Even so, many biologists consider any assisted migration the hubris of people who believe you had a right to reorganize Earth. The temptation to interfere, says critics, is incompatible with preservation. Their caution frustrates Parmesan she believes such a mindset ignores the fact that the alternative outcome could be extinction. Doing nothing, she insists, ultimately outweighs any risk that comes from doing something.