1. Having trouble logging in by clicking the link at the top right of the page? Click here to be taken to the log in page.
    Dismiss Notice

World’s insect population in decline, and why it matters.

Discussion in 'TalkCeltic Pub' started by Callum McGregor, Feb 12, 2019.

Discuss World’s insect population in decline, and why it matters. in the TalkCeltic Pub area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Messages:
    68,186
    Likes Received:
    33,554
    Location:
    London
    Fav Celtic Player:
    Lubomir Moravcik
    Fav Celtic Song:
    You'll Never Walk Alone
    http://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/...ations-are-plummeting-everywhere-we-look.html

    The number of insects is falling at such a perilous rate that if nothing is done to halt the decline, our own future could be at risk.

    This is the conclusion published in a new paper in the journal Biological Conservation.

    The review looked at 75 different studies covering a range of insect groups from around the globe, and the results are startling.

    It has revealed that over 40% of all insects are declining, and a third are endangered. The data suggests that the rate of decline is at least 2.5% per year. According to the researchers' analysis, a quarter of insects could be wiped out within just a decade - although with so few insects populations having been studied, exact figures are hard to come by.

    Specialist insects, while perhaps more sensitive to change, are not necessarily those most at risk. According to the study, all groups are on the decline, even common and generalist species which are often thought of as being more resistant to such disturbances.

    Dr Gavin Broad, Principal Curator in Charge of Insects at the Museum, says, 'In a way it is logically inevitable that we are seeing these declines, as the habitats now remaining are so small and so fragmented compared to a century ago.

    'There is just not the space for insects to live anymore.'

    Underappreciated and overlooked
    In recent years there has been a huge focus on the decline of birds and mammals, but less so for insects. Over 95% of all animals are invertebrates - they're the group that keep the world functioning.

    'Insects are the main drivers of many of our ecosystems on land and in freshwater,' explains Gavin.

    They are the basis of many major food webs, forming the primary food source for birds, amphibians, fish and reptiles. They're also some of the most important pollinators of crops and significant organisms that cycle nutrients throughout the planet's terrestrial ecosystems.

    Without insects, the environment would simply fall apart.

    This is more than some hypothetical outcome: it is already being seen where the decline in insect populations have been studied.

    Two years ago, it was reported that the biomass of flying insects in German nature reserves had fallen by three quarters. What's more, just last year one team found that ground insects in Puerto Rico had declined by 98%.

    While the problems in methodologies make it difficult to draw firm conclusions from both studies, one thing that stood out to the researchers in Puerto Rico was a lack of birds in the rainforest. Yet this dramatic drop in insects it is more than just a threat to other wildlife.

    Without insects, there would be no crops for neither us nor our livestock to eat. The cycling of nutrients such as carbon and nitrogen through the ecosystems would stop. The environment would collapse and the threat to our future is difficult to understate.

    The great unknown
    Despite this latest paper being one of the most comprehensive analyses of the state of the world's insect populations, it still presents massive gaps. This is simply because not all insect groups have been studied equally. One order that is frequently overlooked is Diptera,or flies.

    Dr Erica McAlister, Senior Curator of Diptera at the Museum, says, 'Diptera have often been ignored, simply because they are difficult to study. It is really hard to identify the species from the larval stage, especially compared to other groups such as the moths and butterflies.

    'When it comes to the Diptera around half of the larvae are aquatic, but what is interesting is that these are largely not mentioned in the aquatic ecosystem studies.'

    The enormous biomass of flies supports a whole range of other animal groups, particularly the more traditionally charismatic birds and bats. This makes the fact that so little is officially known about the number and trend of flies all the more concerning.

    According to Erica, this is a huge oversight. The Diptera, which include everything from houseflies and hoverflies to midges and mosquitoes, are hugely important largely down to their sheer numbers, although they are also significant contributors to most ecological function such as pollination.

    'We simply don't have enough empirical evidence for a lot of this,' explains Erica. 'Everyone definitely has a feeling that the numbers of flies is massively down and that we're not seeing what we saw in our childhood, but we need long-term studies to be really emphatic about this.

    'The problem is that I don't think we have the time to do these anymore.'

    There are also issues with the geographical scope of our knowledge of insects, but again this is down to the huge biases seen in existing studies.

    'All these studies are massively northern temperate-biased, as the tropical studies are few and far between,' says Gavin. 'We've got an entire continent in Australia where the only study they could find is on the non-native honeybee.

    'This paper has really highlighted how little we know about insects globally.'

    A fragmented landscape
    The research has not only looked into calculating the rate of the collapse, but has also tried to tease out what is driving these dramatic declines.

    The biggest threats are that of intensive agriculture and pollution in the forms of pesticides and fertilisers. As the human population grows there is an increase in the demand for both space and food.

    'The talk of agricultural intensification is not just pesticides,' explains Gavin. 'A lot of it is to do with uprooting hedgerows and producing huge monocultures which don't leave space for anything else.'

    It is also down to expanding urbanisation and the fragmentation of surviving patches of habitat.

    'That's one of the sad things, really,' says Gavin. 'It doesn't matter how much you protect a nature reserve - at the end of the day it is only one little island.'

    In the tropical regions, however, climate change is emerging as a major threat to insect populations. Rainforests have largely been stable for a long time, meaning the insects that live there are very sensitive to change.

    As these environments dry out while the climate warms, most species simply can't cope, so they die off.

    What can be done?
    On a fundamental level we need to further understand how and why these populations are crashing, but time is against us.

    One of the easiest fixes, in the short term at least, could be to reverse the land-use change that has swept the countryside. Restoring the wildflower-rich meadows, and managing those that still exist, could help mesh the patchwork of protected habitat that has survived.

    There is also a real obligation to inspire the next generation's understanding of the environment, and more significantly the vital role played by insects in underpinning it all.

    'I think we need better education in schools,' says Erica. 'We need to get people to look at insects and appreciate them. There is still such a bias - even within science - towards the vertebrates, even though most of the ecosystem's function is down to the insects.'

    But there also needs to be a change in how we see insects as a whole.

    'We really need a shift change in how we report these things and the language we use,' explains Erica. 'These subjects are always buried in the news because they can be depressing stories, but we can't just ignore them.'

    The paper's authors say the answer is radicalchange in the way we live, particularly the way we produce food. They say we ought to replace pesticides with more sustainable crop-growing practices.

    Otherwise, they concluded, 'insects as a whole will go down the path of extinction in a few decades.

    'The repercussions this will have for the planet's ecosystems are catastrophic to say the least.'
     
    Raoul Duke likes this.
  2. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2011
    Messages:
    75,867
    Likes Received:
    38,025
    'I think we need better education in schools,' says Erica. 'We need to get people to look at insects and appreciate them. There is still such a bias - even within science - towards the vertebrates, even though most of the ecosystem's function is down to the insects.'

    That can't be serious surely?^

    I'm fairly certain the decline of insects isn't down to someone squashing a spider. I wouldn't do it myself but come on?

    Insects will inhabit this rock long after humans are gone
     
  3. bagforlife Gold Member Gold Member

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2015
    Messages:
    7,070
    Likes Received:
    17,131
    Mon the bee's
     
  4. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2011
    Messages:
    75,867
    Likes Received:
    38,025
    The gentlemen of the insect world.
     
    bagforlife likes this.
  5. bagforlife Gold Member Gold Member

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2015
    Messages:
    7,070
    Likes Received:
    17,131
    As are you in the human world :52:
     
    The IRA and Sean Daleer like this.
  6. Marty McFly Whoa, this is heavy

    Joined:
    May 11, 2014
    Messages:
    39,691
    Likes Received:
    38,171
    Location:
    Hill Valley
    Fav Celtic Player:
    Broony
    Fav Celtic Song:
    Celtic Symphony
  7. Raoul Duke

    Joined:
    Jan 29, 2015
    Messages:
    7,005
    Likes Received:
    2,284
    Fav Celtic Player:
    Lubomir Moravcik
    Fav Celtic Song:
    Celtic Symphony
    I think her point is that she wants to better educate people on the importance of insects on a larger scale. Like if you had to tell the average person that spiders were going extinct they probably wouldn't care due to a lot of people having arachnophobia or just a general dislike of spiders, but if you were telling them dogs were going extinct they'd go off their nut even though spiders are more important in the ecosystem.

    P.s i know spiders aren't insects before anyone comments.
     
    Liam Scales likes this.
  8. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2011
    Messages:
    75,867
    Likes Received:
    38,025
    There are so many insects though that humans couldn't possibly put a dent in their extinction. Insects are the most resourceful survivors on the planet.

    I have no worries about insects.
     
  9. cidermaster Gold Member Gold Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2014
    Messages:
    23,194
    Likes Received:
    19,033
    Location:
    North Wales
    Fav Celtic Player:
    Henrik Larsson
    Fav Celtic Song:
    That Depeche Mode when we score!!
    Brilliant Topic,i was listening to this subject on Radio 4 a while ago and have since read about it,insects are way more important than us for the good of the plant,of course that is pretty dam obvious,so we better get our * together and look after them!
     
  10. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2011
    Messages:
    75,867
    Likes Received:
    38,025
    By doing what?
     
  11. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2011
    Messages:
    75,867
    Likes Received:
    38,025
    Did that feel cheesy? It looked cheesy from over here. :giggle1:
     
    bagforlife likes this.
  12. cidermaster Gold Member Gold Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2014
    Messages:
    23,194
    Likes Received:
    19,033
    Location:
    North Wales
    Fav Celtic Player:
    Henrik Larsson
    Fav Celtic Song:
    That Depeche Mode when we score!!
    In all avenues we need to look after the enviroment to save the superb natural balance we have on this planet.By doing that we can save the insects,thus saving all life.
     
  13. Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Messages:
    68,186
    Likes Received:
    33,554
    Location:
    London
    Fav Celtic Player:
    Lubomir Moravcik
    Fav Celtic Song:
    You'll Never Walk Alone
    Tremendous. :56: :56:

    The captive bred insects I feed have no impact on wild populations though. :56:
     
    Artorias and Marty McFly like this.
  14. Callum McGregor The Captain Gold Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Messages:
    68,186
    Likes Received:
    33,554
    Location:
    London
    Fav Celtic Player:
    Lubomir Moravcik
    Fav Celtic Song:
    You'll Never Walk Alone
    I read that as, there being much more scientific focus and funding, towards vertebrate animals.

    I’m not a scientist but the depth of information available for invertebrates, appears to be far shallower than what’s available for vertebrates.
     
  15. honda Gold Member Gold Member

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2012
    Messages:
    21,893
    Likes Received:
    14,045
    Stop standing on ants ye *
     
    bagforlife and Sean Daleer like this.
  16. Raoul Duke

    Joined:
    Jan 29, 2015
    Messages:
    7,005
    Likes Received:
    2,284
    Fav Celtic Player:
    Lubomir Moravcik
    Fav Celtic Song:
    Celtic Symphony
    Humans are having a direct impact on declining bee population by our use of insecticides and human caused climate change decreasing their habitat. It only takes one species of insect to go extinct, such as the bee, to have a serious knock on effect on the rest of the ecosystem.
     
  17. Gyp Rosetti Gold Member

    Joined:
    Apr 30, 2010
    Messages:
    52,893
    Likes Received:
    38,673
    Location:
    Govan
    Fav Celtic Player:
    Rogic
    Fav Celtic Song:
    Celtic symphony
    We are * tbh, * it I’m phoning for gear and getting a cargo.
     
  18. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2011
    Messages:
    75,867
    Likes Received:
    38,025
    Bees are awesome.

    Alright. I'm in!
     
    Raoul Duke and bagforlife like this.
  19. bagforlife Gold Member Gold Member

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2015
    Messages:
    7,070
    Likes Received:
    17,131
    I did birthday caird pish just wanted to be cheesy to you and I now feel tacky :56:
     
    Artorias and Sean Daleer like this.
  20. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2011
    Messages:
    75,867
    Likes Received:
    38,025
    I liked it.
     
    Artorias and bagforlife like this.