#biodiversity #insect #ecosystem #agricultural intensification
#synthetic fertilisers #pesticides
"All the insects are dying: It turns out covering a large portion of the world's landmass with chemicals specifically designed to kill them is quite effective - the world's insects are going extinct, threatening a "collapse of nature's ecosystems", according to the first global scientific review. This is a problem because insects are essential for all ecosystems, the researchers say, as food for other creatures, pollinators and recyclers of nutrients." The main cause of the decline is agricultural intensification," Sánchez-Bayo said. "That means the elimination of all trees and shrubs that normally surround the fields, so there are plain, bare fields that are treated with synthetic fertilisers and pesticides."
(Note by Melissa: the original scientific publication to be cited is:
Sánchez-Bayoa & Wyckhuys (2019) Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers. Biological Conservation 232, 8-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.020