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(Pesticides are not the only option(May 4, 2022, 05:04) Climate change and agricultural intensification are causing unprecedented losses in biodiversity and insect abundance, putting at risk key ecosystem functions such as food production. The research results were published in NatureUniversity College London scientists are the first to identify the interactions between the major drivers of the phenomenon. Continued insect apocalypse. As civilization continues to move into a period in which the effects of a rapidly warming planet are compounded by the devastating effects of habitat loss, chemical use, and other factors, it is more important than ever that we take immediate action to prevent the worst for the planet’s future. The solutions are possible, but it is crucial that the public takes strong action to stop the profit-driven fossil fuel and agrichemical industries, say climate advocates.
Scientists used both short-term studies as well as the Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems database (PREDICTS), which contains twenty years of data on insect biodiversity sampling. Species richness and total abundance were reviewed for nearly 20,000 insect species, including dragonflies/damselflies, moths and butterflies, flies, true bugs, beetles, bees and wasps, and grasshoppers/crickets from every biome on earth save the tundra. Scientists divided their data into four classes according to the degree of land intensity: primary vegetation, secondary vegetation and low intensity farming. This was done in order to determine how climate change and industrial farming affected species. Based on a baseline data set from the early 20th century, changes in mean temperatures and maximum temperatures.Thcentury, were also calculated.
The interaction of climate change (at a standard temperature anomaly (1 standard deviation) with high intensity agriculture decreased total insect abundance and species richness 50% and 27% respectively. These impacts were reduced by lower intensity agriculture, which resulted in a decrease of insect abundance of 30% and a 23% increase in species richness. High intensity agriculture is defined by researchers as an industrial, chemical-dependent system with large fields, monocrops and high levels of mechanization or animal confinement. Sites of low intensity are those that do not use high levels of pesticides, or are monoculture-cropped.
Scientists further analysed the data to determine if other factors could help mitigate these declines. It was found that a significant amount of natural land cover was possible to help lower the rate of species declines near low intensity agricultural sites. The loss in insect abundance and richness was only 7% when low intensity agriculture was surrounded with 75% natural habitat. However, a 25% reduction in insect abundance was seen when farmland was only 25% of the natural habitat. High-intensity agriculture does not provide any buffering for insect declines. Natural land is also not affected by climate change at the highest levels.
According to the authors, climate warming is expected accelerate, and agricultural intensity is expected to increase through this century. âIf this agricultural expansion is associated with a reduction in the availability of natural habitats within production landscapes or a move toward higher-intensity agriculture, our results indicate that large declines in insect biodiversity will occur, particularly as climate warming accelerates,â the study notes.
The insect apocalypse, as it is known, is uttered with such fervor because its effects are unimaginably devastating for human civilization. Food production is dependent on the services provided by insects: pollination of pests, soil quality and decomposition, as well as their ability to provide pollination and pest control. These interrelated crises are ongoing, but the public is constantly inundated by misinformation from industries profiting from the crisis to create confusion and enervation. Arguments are made to support the idea that high intensity, industrial chemical farming is the only way of feeding the world and that fossil fuels provide the only source of energy. These dangerous myths are now being exposed by scientific data.
See the Beyond Pesticides article for more information about the ongoing insect apocalypse. Study Cites Insect Extinction & Ecological CollapseAlso, Previous Daily News articlesMore information on the subject.
Beyond Pesticides is not responsible for any opinions or positions that are not attributed to this article.
Source: Nature
