(IMAGE)

University of Ottawa

Caption

An example of the assignment maps for two individuals: Butterfly A (MOTF003) on the left and Butterfly B (MOTF009) on the right. For each, there are assignment maps for each of the three techniques: Hydrogen isotopes (blue), strontium isotopes (red), and a dual strontium-hydrogen assignment (green). Darker shades indicate areas where the butterfly more likely originated. Dual assignment (green) is consistently more precise (smaller area) than the single-isotope assignments. Therefore, we recommend the use of dual strontium-hydrogen assignment in future studies of monarch butterflies using isotope geolocation.

Credit

Megan Reich, University of Ottawa

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