昆蟲“滅絕事件”將改變自然

昆蟲“滅絕事件”將改變自然

We may think of insects as pests, but they play an important role in maintaining the natural order of the world. They provide food for plenty of other species. They pollinate plants. They recycle nutrients.

我們可能認(rèn)為昆蟲是害蟲，但它們在維持世界自然秩序方面發(fā)揮著重要作用。它們?yōu)樵S多其他物種提供食物。它們授粉植物。他們回收養(yǎng)分。

It's possible that a well-maintained insect collection will be the only way to see some bugs in the future. (Photo: ju_see/Shutterstock)

A widespread drop in bugs

昆蟲大量減少

The writing has been on the wall about insects' demise. A German research team announced in October 2018 that the country's insect population had fallen by 77% between 1989 and 2016. A researcher in Puerto Rico reported similar declines in insect biomass when he revisited research sites, comparing data from the 1970s to what he found in the the 2010s.

關(guān)于昆蟲的滅絕，不祥之兆已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)。2018年10月，一個(gè)德國研究小組宣布，從1989年到2016年，德國的昆蟲數(shù)量下降了77%。波多黎各的一名研究人員在再次訪問研究地點(diǎn)時(shí)報(bào)告了類似的昆蟲生物量下降，并將20世紀(jì)70年代的數(shù)據(jù)與他在21世紀(jì)10年代發(fā)現(xiàn)的數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行了比較。

Butterflies and moths are the insect canaries

蝴蝶和飛蛾是昆蟲中的金絲雀

Butterfly populations are dropping in many places around the world. (Photo: Cristian Gusa/Shutterstock)

According to the review, butterflies and moths are among the worst hit, with bees and beetles not far behind. Butterfly populations have fallen by 58% on farmed land in England between 2000 and 2009, for example, and Ohio lost a third of its butterflies between 1996 and 2016. California's monarch butterfly population reportedly dropped by 86% between 2017 and 2018.

根據(jù)這份報(bào)告，蝴蝶和飛蛾是受影響最嚴(yán)重的物種，蜜蜂和甲蟲緊隨其后。例如，2000年至2009年間，英國的蝴蝶數(shù)量下降了58%，而1996年至2016年間，俄亥俄州的蝴蝶數(shù)量減少了三分之一。據(jù)報(bào)道，從2017年到2018年，加州帝王蝶的數(shù)量下降了86%。

Other species, like ants, flies and crickets are difficult to measure, but there's little reason to believe they're doing any better.

其他物種，如螞蟻、蒼蠅和蟋蟀很難測量，但幾乎沒有理由相信它們現(xiàn)狀很好。

As for the reasons behind the drops, Sanchez-Bayo and Wyckhuys point to our current agricultural practices as one culprit.

至于數(shù)量減少的原因，Sanchez-Bayo和Wyckhuys指出，我們當(dāng)前的農(nóng)業(yè)實(shí)踐是罪魁禍?zhǔn)字弧?/p>

Stronger insecticides that harm the bugs and the soil around crops aren't helping matters, either, he added.

他還說，更強(qiáng)的殺蟲劑會傷害昆蟲和農(nóng)作物周圍的土壤，但這也于事無補(bǔ)。

An insect apocalypse

昆蟲的啟示

A northern mockingbird hunts for insects among tomato plants. (Photo: Jean Faucett/Shutterstock)

Another culprit that is often overlooked is light pollution. New research, published in the Biological Conservation journal, points to artificial light at night (ALAN) as another key driver behind insects' rapid decline.

另一個(gè)經(jīng)常被忽視的罪魁禍?zhǔn)资枪馕廴?。發(fā)表在《生物保護(hù)雜志》上的一項(xiàng)新研究指出，夜間人工照明是昆蟲數(shù)量迅速減少的另一個(gè)關(guān)鍵因素。

With the rapid expansion of human development this past century, light pollution is affecting insects' mating habits, movement, foraging and overall development. Think of the flurry of moths that always cluster around a light bulb, thinking it's the moon, or the millions of insects that die an untimely death from vehicle headlights at night.

隨著本世紀(jì)人類發(fā)展的迅速擴(kuò)張，光污染正影響著昆蟲的交配習(xí)性、運(yùn)動、覓食和整體發(fā)育。想想那些總是聚集在燈泡周圍的飛蛾，它們以為是月亮，或者是那些在夜晚死于汽車前燈的數(shù)百萬昆蟲。

Insects are also a crucial form of food for other species, especially birds. But insect predators often work ALAN to their advantage, preying on bugs that gather around artificial light, and furthering their speedy decline.

昆蟲也是其他物種，尤其是鳥類的重要食物。但昆蟲捕食者往往對它們有利，捕食那些聚集在人造光周圍的昆蟲，進(jìn)一步加速了它們的快速衰退。

Luckily, this is one habitat disturbance that has an easy solution: turn off the lights at night. It can also help to avoid blue-white lights, use shades and consider switching your outdoor lights to motion-activated.

幸運(yùn)的是，這是一個(gè)有簡單的解決方案的棲息地干擾問題:晚上關(guān)燈。它還可以幫助避免藍(lán)白色的燈光，使用陰影，并考慮將你的戶外燈光切換到運(yùn)動激活模式。