Biodiversity threatened as pesticides flourish

Monarch butterfly populations are at their lowest levels since records were first taken in the 1970s. As reported in the NY Times, it's partially due to industrial ag:

Hardier genetically altered corn and soybean crops in the United States and Canada, in the breadbasket areas that are the monarch's main summer conjugal grounds, have enabled farmers to use stronger herbicides to eliminate weeds. That has drastically depleted the supply of flowers on which the butterflies feed, as well as common milkweed, on which the monarch lays its eggs in the spring and summer and on which its larvae feed, several biologists say.

It's a slippery slope. The pesticides kill the flowers that are the monarch's main food supplies. That leads to lower monarch populations, which in turn results in fewer plant offspring due to the reduced availability of monarch pollinators. It's been happening for awhile now, but it's depressing nonetheless.