MJV Webinar: Milkweed Biodiversity: Exceptional plants and natural history

Join the Monarch Joint Venture for the April session of the Monarch Conservation Webinar Series.

Title: Milkweed Biodiversity: Exceptional plants and natural history

Presenter: Dr. Anurag Agrawal, Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University

Description: This lecture will provide a deep and beautiful exploration into the milkweeds in the genus Asclepias, focusing on the roughly 140 American species through an interdisciplinary lens spanning ecology, evolution, botany, and entomology. We will begin by contextualizing Ascelpias within its botanical family, Apocynaceae, and the larger scope of global biodiversity. The core of the presentation involves an immersive journey through the natural history of these remarkable plants, highlighting key biological adaptations: their diverse habitats and growth forms, the complexity of their unique floral morphology and specialized pollination mechanisms, and the crucial role of latex and cardiac glycosides (cardenolides) in their defense. To illustrate this stunning variety, we will showcase hotspots of milkweed diversity with field images from Florida, Oaxaca, Mexico, and the Western USA. The lecture will conclude by synthesizing the successful life strategies of milkweeds, assessing factors such as clonality, specific soil requirements, pollination, and defenses. This lecture will be presented for a general audience, making the complex science of milkweed's biology and diversification accessible to anyone interested in the subject.

Bio: Dr. Anurag Agrawal is a professor at Cornell University and the author of Monarchs and Milkweed, a groundbreaking book that explores the evolutionary relationship between monarch butterflies and their host plants. His research focuses on plant-insect interactions, chemical ecology, and the ecological dynamics that shape monarch populations. Through his scientific leadership, Dr. Agrawal brings a deeper understanding of the complex natural systems monarchs depend on.