insect apocalypse

[user 6228]

An article worth reading.
insect apocalypse by Dave Goulson
The majority of conservation efforts and public attention are focused on large, charismatic mammals and birds such as tigers, pandas and penguins, yet the bulk of animal life, whether measured by biomass, numerical abundance or numbers of species, consists of invertebrates such as insects. Arguably, these innumerable little creatures are far more important for the functioning of ecosystems than their furry or feathered brethren, but until recently we had few long-term data on their population trends. Recent studies from Germany and Puerto Rico suggest that insects may be in a state of catastrophic population collapse: the German data describe a 76% decline in biomass over 26 years, while the Puerto Rican study estimates a decline of between 75% and 98% over 35 years. Corroborative evidence, for example from butterfl ies in Europe and California (which both show slightly less dramatic reductions in abundance), suggest that these declines are not isolated. The causes are much debated, but almost certainly include habitat loss, chronic exposure to pesticides, and climate change. The consequences are clear; insects are integral to every terrestrial food web, being food for numerous birds, bats, reptiles, amphibians and fi sh, and performing vital roles such as pollination, pest control and nutrient recycling. Terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems will collapse without insects. These studies are a warning that we may have failed to appreciate the full scale and pace of environmental degradation caused by human activities in the Anthropocene.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks Derek
It’s worth reading the whole article
Sombre reading
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(19)30796-1.pdf

Edit
Oops you’ve linked to it already

 

[Murox]

An interesting article. I recall that particularly in Germany the decline of insects generally has been of concern for a number of years. It was noticed that cars were no longer covered in smashed insects in various areas year on year during the summer, so there had to be an issue.

 

[Walrus]

Yep, humans are messing up the planet. We'll probably colonise other worlds one day and wreck them too.

 

[Goran]

Here are emerging new invasive insect species which are flooding area and pressing other life ( plants mostly), also spreading diseases to humans.. So when talking of " insects".. I think " humans" will disappear first..
Nature will sort us swiftly and some life will remain or will be born and blossom.. I think, it is not question will we end our civilization, more when and how ( with a Bang or silently..)..

 

[Beefriendly]

I think, it is not question will we end our civilization, more when and how ( with a Bang or silently..)..

It will be a bang in 4-5 million years when the sun explodes....unless we have got out of the solar system before then.
I've never seen so many bumble bees working the heather as this year, well not easy to see through all the accumulated insect debris on my truck windscreen.

 

[theeggman]

I'm inclined to think that the modern computer designed cars send the bugs over the top in the slipstream and therefore impacts are reduced rather than less bugs.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Rather than noting squashed bugs in windscreens and car lights maybe simple observation should tell us there are far fewer insects than fifty years ago.
I have youthful memories of clouds of butterflies in the meadows, of scores of moths battering the night time house windows and dancing round street lights. I remember looking for glow worms on warm summer nights and watching the hens feast on the annual autumn crane fly bonanza.
These are memories now. Yes, there are congregations on the autumn flowering blooms when the sun comes out but there’s nothing like the numbers I recall

 

[Goran]

It will be a bang in 4-5 million years when the sun explodes....unless we have got out of the solar system before then.
I've never seen so many bumble bees working the heather as this year, well not easy to see through all the accumulated insect debris on my truck windscreen.

Oh no.. I thought on nukes.. since nowadays politicians advocate of wide use of nukes.. against hurricanes for instance.. Or.. You nuke me, I will nuke You.. So we are all one happy.. pile of something..
Or what will happen with all nuc plants which will come under sea level, or all nuclear waste which will be underwater, or is already thrown in oceans..
I would be surprised if we survive another 100 years without global radiation spread..
Long, long time before, one man told there will be food aplenty and everywhere but when You eat it You will die.. Most of us took it as a joke, but seems so real nowadays..

About insects, I noticed increased population of some Heteroptera, more as a boom. Also I noticed some birds don't exist at my place anymore or are rarely seen ( which may be the ones who keep population of such insects under control). Again some birds are booming in population, which are real pests to me, nothing else..

 

[Goran]

Rather than noting squashed bugs in windscreens and car lights maybe simple observation should tell us there are far fewer insects than fifty years ago.
I have youthful memories of clouds of butterflies in the meadows, of scores of moths battering the night time house windows and dancing round street lights. I remember looking for glow worms on warm summer nights and watching the hens feast on the annual autumn crane fly bonanza.
These are memories now. Yes, there are congregations on the autumn flowering blooms when the sun comes out but there’s nothing like the numbers I recall

Mayflies still have their flights here, Lucanus cervus has its flights also..

 

[Beefriendly]

I witnessed a caddis hatch a few years ago that was so dense I had to turn my windscreen wipers on to drive through it. Went back an hour later and it had dispersed
In American some towns on the "polluted" Mississippi get some of the most amazing mayfly hatches with carpets of them. A friend of mine witnessed similar on the R. Test near Itchen a few years ago....they are still there. it's often a matter of being in the right place at the right time (or wrong time ).

 

[ShinySideUp]

I'm inclined to think that the modern computer designed cars send the bugs over the top in the slipstream and therefore impacts are reduced rather than less bugs.

You have a point but IMHO it is not the answer. I ride a motorbike and no such aerodynamic developments are in effect, especially with an unfaired bike and there are definitely fewer insects splattered across my visor. Some rides in years gone by had to be stopped for a few minutes every half hour on country roads for the purposes of visor-cleaning. The days I can ride to central Wales (from Cornwall) without stopping to clean it.

Fewer insects means fewer birds, bats, fish etc. It seems the only thing increasing on this planet is the human virus, a virus that seems intent on killing it's host.

Disagree all one likes but the facts are there for all to see -- if one chooses to look.

 

[user 6228]

Some rides in years gone by had to be stopped for a few minutes every half hour on country roads for the purposes of visor-cleaning.

As recent as 1998

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I've noticed over the past 20years the decline in the number of insect splats on the windscreen but, on the positive side this summer and last, I've noticed again, a fair few hitting the screen and some heartening hatches of duns of a summer evening

 

[ShinySideUp]

As recent as 1998

Probably not far out.

 

[bingevader]

I'm inclined to think that the modern computer designed cars send the bugs over the top in the slipstream and therefore impacts are reduced rather than less bugs.

I've had the same make of car (no change in design) since 2002!

 

[pargyle]

Rather than noting squashed bugs in windscreens and car lights maybe simple observation should tell us there are far fewer insects than fifty years ago.
I have youthful memories of clouds of butterflies in the meadows, of scores of moths battering the night time house windows and dancing round street lights. I remember looking for glow worms on warm summer nights and watching the hens feast on the annual autumn crane fly bonanza.
These are memories now. Yes, there are congregations on the autumn flowering blooms when the sun comes out but there’s nothing like the numbers I recall

Yes .. my early memories are of 'proper' meadows covered in insect life .. a butterfly net and a jam jar even in the grime of South Yorkshire's industrial heartland in the 1950's was very fruitful .. even when smog in the winter was so bad you could not see a hand in front of your face and the red death (dust fall out from the steelworks) ate into paintwork - there were still insects .. lots of insects. My motorcycle goggles needed cleaning every few miles. Nothing like that down here on the South Coast any more ... although I know there are places in the UK that we haven't yet destroyed with the never ending quest for food and land to build on.

 

[coatesg]

It will be a bang in 4-5 million years when the sun explodes....unless we have got out of the solar system before then.

Can probably add another 3 zeros on the end of the number of years there...

 

[Beefriendly]

Can probably add another 3 zeros on the end of the number of years there...

I hope I'm still around to witness it....

 

[Erichalfbee]

I hope I'm still around to witness it....

In that many years? What are the chances all of us might have been back on this earth a few times by then?