REVIEWS — Books, podcasts, websites
by Nick Haddad
Princeton University Press RRP $45.99
BUTTERFLIES ARE that rare breed which capture our hearts, yet for most of us remain an unknown and uninvestigated species. Their beauty and innocence is about as far as most people go with their appraisal. Yet The Last Butterflies: A Scientist’s Quest to Save a Rare and Vanishing Creature tells the tale of the challenges faced by the rarest of butterflies, but also investigates the resilience they have in the face of crisis.
Nick Haddad tells this tale with a great ability to share his knowledge with both the informed and the uniformed. He not only discusses the specific concerns butterflies face, but also suggests ways to reverse the situation.
As the Professor of Biology at Michigan State University and Senior Territorial Ecologist at MSU’S W K Kellogg Biological Station northeast of Kalamazoo, Haddad studies the application of ecological principles to the conservation of biodiversity, from individual rare animals to all species living within a community. He focusses on strategies – such as the use of habitat corridors – that are intended to overcome the negative effects of habitat loss and fragmentation.
When comparing the butterflies he studies to other animals listed as endangered, he says that “the collective weight of all individuals of the five rarest butterflies that I discuss in this book would weigh only three pounds five ounces [1.6kg] – as much as one panda’s paw”.
However there is an urgency to address their situation: “Global habitat loss and climate change have relegated each species to minuscule land parcels, areas as small as a single golf course or even a football field. I have found rare butterflies in unexpected places, their populations restricted to artillery ranges or beaches or backyards.”
There are eight butterflies investigated in the book, most rare (and one extinct) but I found it interesting that he included the monarch (Danaus plexippus). It’s seen as a common one; even the layperson may have heard of it. Haddad himself says including it was the toughest decision because people know about the monarch. That said, the western monarch has declined from millions to 28,000 over recent years.
This is a special book in so many ways. Despite acknowledging that “the rarest [butterflies] produce no measurable value to human economies or to ecological systems”, it addresses the big ecological and climate issues we all have to accept. As Haddad says, the rarest butterflies should be saved because “people just should not be the cause of extinction”.