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Three quarters of known animal species are insects. From pollinators to pests, dinner to decomposers, insects are integral to healthy ecosystems. So, when there is a huge decline in populations, scientists get worried.
The loss of insect biodiversity, and biodiversity in general, is as great an emergency as the climate crisis says Oliver Milman in “The Insect Crisis.” Chapter by chapter he explores this hidden emergency, beginning with the intricate ways insect lives are woven into ours. He takes us into the field with scientists and farmers, and shows how data is collected and analyzed.
To understand the scope of the crisis, Milman begins by highlighting some of the winners and losers in the insect survival game. The big losers are bumblebees, at least in North America. “The abundance of four species of bumblebee has plummeted by as much as 96 percent in recent decades,” he writes, noting that their ranges have shrunk by nearly 80%. Beetle populations have declined steeply since the 1970s. Included in those losses are dung beetles that, by their actions, increase soil fertility and improve soil structure. In the United Kingdom, moth populations are down by a quarter and butterfly populations are half what they used to be. And yet, Milman notes, chemical companies continue to sell insecticides and people continue to refer to insects as “creepy crawlies.”
In one chapter, Milman focuses on the problems birds face when insect numbers decline. It takes, on average, 200,000 bugs to raise a barn swallow chick to maturity. Research already shows the shrinking numbers of some bird species, many of them common backyard birds. In another chapter he looks more closely at the impact of chemicals and weed-free fields. There’s a role for weeds in farming, Milman maintains. Fields need about 10% weed cover to support enough insects for a functioning food chain that feeds nearby birds which, in turn, eat insect pests in those fields.
Milman devotes three chapters to show how a warming climate sets off a cascade of impacts on plants and pollinators. Not all insects will be losers, he notes. As areas warm, other insects move in: like mosquitoes. He then provides an up-close look at how the changing climate is affecting honeybees and monarch butterflies.
www.mofga.org
There are entire subdivisions all over the United States, and expecially in "gated communities", where nary a bug nor a weed is allowed. If either so much as shows up anywhere, the herbicides and pesticides are applied as soon as the insect control company or lawn guy can be called. And it can't be good for the kids playing in these lawns full of chemicals. Fortunately, kids don't do that anymore. Even if they do happen to go outside, the still have their noses in their cell phones and won't get anywhere near contact with actual nature.
In addition, there are literally thousands of adjacent acres in which not a single bug is allowed, in the vast midwest "corn country", for example. There should be a sign as you enter Iowa: NO BUGS ALLOWED!
This can't be good for the long term. The dramatic loss of insects and bees could be the "canary in the coal mine" for other species.
The loss of insect biodiversity, and biodiversity in general, is as great an emergency as the climate crisis says Oliver Milman in “The Insect Crisis.” Chapter by chapter he explores this hidden emergency, beginning with the intricate ways insect lives are woven into ours. He takes us into the field with scientists and farmers, and shows how data is collected and analyzed.
To understand the scope of the crisis, Milman begins by highlighting some of the winners and losers in the insect survival game. The big losers are bumblebees, at least in North America. “The abundance of four species of bumblebee has plummeted by as much as 96 percent in recent decades,” he writes, noting that their ranges have shrunk by nearly 80%. Beetle populations have declined steeply since the 1970s. Included in those losses are dung beetles that, by their actions, increase soil fertility and improve soil structure. In the United Kingdom, moth populations are down by a quarter and butterfly populations are half what they used to be. And yet, Milman notes, chemical companies continue to sell insecticides and people continue to refer to insects as “creepy crawlies.”
In one chapter, Milman focuses on the problems birds face when insect numbers decline. It takes, on average, 200,000 bugs to raise a barn swallow chick to maturity. Research already shows the shrinking numbers of some bird species, many of them common backyard birds. In another chapter he looks more closely at the impact of chemicals and weed-free fields. There’s a role for weeds in farming, Milman maintains. Fields need about 10% weed cover to support enough insects for a functioning food chain that feeds nearby birds which, in turn, eat insect pests in those fields.
Milman devotes three chapters to show how a warming climate sets off a cascade of impacts on plants and pollinators. Not all insects will be losers, he notes. As areas warm, other insects move in: like mosquitoes. He then provides an up-close look at how the changing climate is affecting honeybees and monarch butterflies.
Book Review: “The Insect Crisis"
Review of “The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World” by Oliver Milman, 2023.
www.mofga.org
There are entire subdivisions all over the United States, and expecially in "gated communities", where nary a bug nor a weed is allowed. If either so much as shows up anywhere, the herbicides and pesticides are applied as soon as the insect control company or lawn guy can be called. And it can't be good for the kids playing in these lawns full of chemicals. Fortunately, kids don't do that anymore. Even if they do happen to go outside, the still have their noses in their cell phones and won't get anywhere near contact with actual nature.
In addition, there are literally thousands of adjacent acres in which not a single bug is allowed, in the vast midwest "corn country", for example. There should be a sign as you enter Iowa: NO BUGS ALLOWED!
This can't be good for the long term. The dramatic loss of insects and bees could be the "canary in the coal mine" for other species.
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