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Decline in insect populations

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As of 2017, at least 66 insect species extinctions had been recorded in the previous 500 years, which generally occurred on oceanic islands. Declines in insect abundance have been attributed to artificial lighting, land use changes such as urbanization or agricultural use, pesticide use, and invasive species. Some studies have suggested a large proportion of insect species are threatened with extinction in the 21st century, though ecologist Manu Sanders notes that many of these findings are often biased by excluding data that shows increases or stability in diversity, and limited to specific geographic areas and specific groups of species.

Claims of pending mass insect extinctions or "insect apocalypse" based on a subset of these studies have been popularized in news reports, but often make claims extrapolated beyond the study data or hyperbolize study findings. For some insect groups such as some butterflies, bees, and beetles, declines in abundance and diversity have been documented in European studies. Other areas have shown increases in some insect species, although trends in most regions are currently unknown. It is difficult to assess long-term trends in insect abundance or diversity because historical measurements are generally not known for many species. Robust data to assess at-risk areas or species is especially lacking for arctic and tropical regions and a majority of the southern hemisphere.

See also

References

  1. Briggs, John C (October 2017). "Emergence of a sixth mass extinction?". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 122 (2): 243–248. doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blx063.
  2. Owens, Avalon C. S.; Lewis, Sara M. (November 2018). "The impact of artificial light at night on nocturnal insects: A review and synthesis". Ecology and Evolution. 8 (22): 11337–11358. doi:10.1002/ece3.4557. PMC 6262936. PMID 30519447.
  3. Tscharntke, Teja; Klein, Alexandra M.; Kruess, Andreas; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Thies, Carsten (August 2005). "Landscape perspectives on agricultural intensification and biodiversity and ecosystem service management". Ecology Letters. 8 (8): 857–874. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00782.x.
  4. Insect-plant interactions in a crop protection perspective. 2017-01-19. p. 313–320. ISBN 978-0-12-803324-1.
  5. Braak, Nora; Neve, Rebecca; Jones, Andrew K.; Gibbs, Melanie; Breuker, Casper J. (November 2018). "The effects of insecticides on butterflies – A review". Environmental Pollution. 242 (Pt A): 507–518. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.06.100. PMID 30005263.
  6. Wagner, David L.; Van Driesche, Roy G. (January 2010). "Threats Posed to Rare or Endangered Insects by Invasions of Nonnative Species". Annual Review of Entomology. 55 (1): 547–568. doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-112408-085516. PMID 19743915.
  7. Sánchez-Bayo, Francisco; Wyckhuys, Kris A.G. (April 2019). "Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers". Biological Conservation. 232: 8–27. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.020.
  8. Saunders, Manu (16 February 2019). "Insectageddon is a great story. But what are the facts?". Ecology is not a dirty word. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  9. ^ "Global Insect Biodiversity: Frequently Asked Questions" (PDF). Entomological Society of America. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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