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Other factors threatening Monarch populations include logging and the loss of their habitat to development, ecology and evolutionary biology Professor Chip Taylor said.

The butterfly colonies in Mexico cover only about 4.75 acres, down from a previous low of 5.4 acres in 2004, Taylor told the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World.

If current trends continue, the species would not become extinct -- it's also found in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and Europe -- but its annual North American migration could be at risk, said Taylor, director of the university's Monarch Watch program.

In the Americas, the Monarch is famous for its southward winter migration and northward summer return -- a cycle that spans the life of three to four generations of the butterfly.

"The migration is worth saving", Taylor told the newspaper. "It's one of the most significant biological events that goes on on this planet."

Taylor said he thought even if the total area covered dropped to 2 1/2 acres, the population could likely survive, given past experiences with weather-related disasters.

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