A collection of new scientific articles written by 56 experts from around the world reiterates growing concern about declining insects and urges individuals and governments to take urgent action to address a biodiversity crisis called the “insect apocalypse” “.
“The Global Decline of Insects in the Special Function of the Anthropocene,” which includes an introduction and 11 papers, was published on Monday in Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences next to a related news article. “Nature is besieged,” scientists warn. “Insects suffer” death by a thousand cuts. “
The set of studies, the result of a symposium in St. Louis, is included as the set of research on insect decline has grown in recent years, leading to important assessments published in February 2019 and April 2020, as well as a published roadmap last January by 73 scientists detailing how to fight the “bugpocalypse.”
As explained in the new package and the following graph, the human stressors that experts have related to the decrease in errors include agricultural practices; chemical, light and noise pollution; invasive species; land use changes; nitrification; pesticides; and urbanization.
Emphasizing the consequences of this decline, University of Connecticut entomologist David Wagner, lead author of the package, told the Associated press that insects “are absolutely the fabric by which mother nature and the tree of life are built.”
According to Wagner, many insect populations fall by about 1-2% a year. As he said The guardian: “You’re losing 10-20% of your animals in a single decade and that’s absolutely terrifying. It’s tearing the carpet off of life.”
While most of the causes of the decline are known, “there’s a really big unknown, which is climate change; that’s what really scares me the most,” he said, warning that the crisis could lead to “extinctions.” at a pace we haven’t seen before. “
“To mitigate the effects of the sixth mass extinction event we have caused, we will need the following: a stable (and almost certainly lower) human population, sustainable consumption levels and social justice” https://t.co/ m3q4tLUxz4
– Damian Carrington (@dpcarrington) January 11, 2021
This was stated by Roel van Klink, of the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research The guardian that “the most important thing we learn [from these new studies] it is the complexity behind the decline of insects. No quick fix will solve this problem “.
“There are certainly places where the abundance of insects falls sharply, but not everywhere,” he said. “That’s a cause for hope, because it can help us understand what we can do to help them. They can recover very quickly when conditions improve.”
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The introduction to the package notes that while recent research and resulting news coverage have focused on declining insect populations, “four articles in this special issue point to cases of insect lineages that have not changed or increased in abundance “.
“Many species of moths in Britain have been shown to have expanded in terms of population range or size,” the document notes. “Numerous temperate insects, presumably limited by winter temperatures, have increased in abundance and range, in response to warmer global temperatures.”
The introduction adds that pollinators such as the western bee in North America “can thrive because of their associations with humans.” “The increase in the abundance of freshwater insects has been attributed to clean water legislation in both Europe and North America.”
In addition to the introduction, entitled “Declining Insects in the Anthropocene: Death by a Thousand Cuts,” the package includes seven perspectives:
The set of work also includes three separate research articles:
The last piece is an opinion that sets out “eight simple actions that individuals can take to save insects from global falls,” which includes five actions to create more and better habitats for insects, the loss of which is probably the main cause of insects, ”and three aimed at adjusting public attitudes.
As Dharna Noor wrote in her cover of Later: “I don’t like insects. The creepy, many-legged things make my skin crawl. But as unpleasant as they are, insects are absolutely crucial to the functioning of our world’s ecosystems and, unfortunately, the new research shows that creature populations are on the verge of collapse. “
To increase insect awareness and appreciation, scientists suggest counteracting negative perceptions, boosting conservation efforts, and engaging in local political advocacy. In terms of habitat improvement, they recommend converting lawns into diverse natural habitats, growing native plants, cutting off pesticide use, limiting light pollution, and reducing soap runoff from car washing and building. exteriors, as well as the use of road sealants and thawing salts.
“Avoiding some behaviors or adopting others will contribute both directly and indirectly to insect conservation,” the scientists point out. “In addition, taking action to address issues such as climate change can synergistically promote insect diversity. Climate change is increasingly recognized as a key factor driving local and regional plant and animal extinctions.”