A collection of new scientific articles written by 56 experts from around the world reiterates the growing concern about the decline of bugs and urges people and governments to act urgently to address a biodiversity crisis called the ‘insect apocalypse’ to speak.
“The Global Decline of Insects in the Anthropocene Special Feature”, which contains an introduction and 11 papers, was published on Monday in Proceedings of the National Academic of Sciences next to a related news article. “Nature is under siege,” warn the scientists. “Insects suffer from ‘death by a thousand cuts’.”
The series of studies – stemming from a symposium in St. Louis – comes as the number of studies on insect decline has grown over the past few years, leading to major reviews published in February 2019 and April 2020, as well as a roadmap last January by 73 scientists outlining how to ‘ bugpocalypse ‘to fight.
As the new package and the image below explain, human stressors that experts have linked to bug removal include agricultural practices; chemical, light and sound pollution; invader species; land use changes; nitrification; pesticides; and urbanization.
University of Connecticut entomologist David Wagner, lead author of the package, emphasized the effects of such declines Associated Press that insects “are absolutely the substance with which Mother Nature and the tree of life are built.”
According to Wagner, many insect populations drop by about 1-2% per year. As he put it The guardian: “You lose 10-20% of your animals in a single decade and that’s absolutely scary. You tear the tapestry of life apart.”
Although most of the causes of declines are known, ‘there really is a big unknown and it’s climate change – it’s the one that scares me the most’, he said, warning that the crisis could cause ‘extinctions’ against a pace we have not seen before. ‘
‘To mitigate the effects of the sixth mass extinction event we have caused, the following is needed: a stable (and almost certainly lower) human population, sustainable consumption and social justice’ https://t.co/ m3q4tLUxz4
– Damian Carrington (@dpcarrington) 11 January 2021
Roel van Klink of the German Center for Integrative Research on Biodiversity said The guardian that “the most important thing we learn [from these new studies] is the complexity behind insect declines. No single quick fix is going to solve this problem. ‘
“There are definitely places where the insect flood drops very sharply, but not everywhere,” he said. “It’s a reason for hope, because it can help us understand what we can do to help them. They can bounce back really quickly if conditions improve.”
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In the introduction of the package it is pointed out that although much recent research and the subsequent news coverage was focused on declines in the populations of the bugs, ‘but in four articles in this special issue take note of insects that have not changed or that in abundance has increased. ‘
“Many moth species in Britain have demonstrably expanded in size or population size,” the article says. “Numerous temperate insects, presumably confined by winter temperatures, have increased in abundance and extent in response to warmer world temperatures.”
Pollinators such as the western honey bee in North America “may thrive because of their association with humans,” the introduction adds. “Increasing abundance of freshwater insects is attributed to clean water legislation, in both Europe and North America.”
In addition to the introduction, entitled “Insect drop in the anthropocene: death by a thousand cuts”, the package contains seven perspectives:
The work also contains three separate research articles:
The concluding paragraph sets out an opinion setting out ‘eight simple actions that individuals can take to save insects from global degradation’, containing five actions to create more and better insect-friendly habitats, the loss of which is likely to be a major cause of insects. decreases, “and three aimed at adjusting public attitudes.
As Dharna Noor wrote in her coverage for Earth: “I do not like bugs. Creepy things with lots of bones make my skin crawl. But as unpleasant as it is, insects are absolutely essential for the functioning of our world’s ecosystems, and unfortunately new research shows that the creatures’ population is currently edge of collapse. “
To promote the awareness and appreciation of insects, the scientists suggest counteracting negative perceptions, campaigning for conservation efforts and engaging in local political advocacy. In terms of improving the habitat, they recommend converting lawns into different natural habitats, growing native plants, reducing the use of pesticides, limiting light pollution, and reducing the runoff of soap from vehicles and the exterior of the soap. reduce, as well as the use of driveway sealants and icing salts. .
“Avoiding some behaviors or adopting others will directly and indirectly contribute to the conservation of insects,” the scientists say. “Furthermore, taking action that addresses issues such as climate change can synergistically promote insect diversity. Climate change is increasingly recognized as a primary factor driving local and regional extinction of plants and animals.”