What Would Happen If All the Insects Went Extinct?
What Would Happen If All the Insects Went Extinct?
There are an awful lot of insects. It’s hard to say exactly how many because 80 percent haven’t yet been described by taxonomists, but there are probably about 5.5 million species. Put that number together with other kinds of animals with exoskeletons and jointed legs, known collectively as arthropods—this includes mites, spiders and woodlice—and there are probably about seven million species in all.
Despite their ubiquity in the animal kingdom, a recent report warned of a “bugpocalypse,” as surveys indicated that insects everywhere are declining at an alarming rate. This could mean the extinction of 40 percent of the world’s insect species over the next few decades.
What is particularly worrying is that we don’t know exactly why populations are declining. Agricultural intensification and pesticides are likely a big part of the problem, but it’s certainly more complicated than that, and habitat loss and climate change could also play a part.
Although some newspaper reports have suggested that insects could “vanish within a century” total loss is unlikely—it’s probable that if some species die out, others will move in and take their place. Nevertheless, this loss of diversity could have catastrophic consequences of its own. Insects are ecologically important and if they were to disappear, the consequences for agriculture and wildlife would be dire.
The sprawling kingdom of bugs
There are an awful lot of insects. It’s hard to say exactly how many because 80 percent haven’t yet been described by taxonomists, but there are probably about 5.5 million species. Put that number together with other kinds of animals with exoskeletons and jointed legs, known collectively as arthropods—this includes mites, spiders and woodlice—and there are probably about seven million species in all.
Despite their ubiquity in the animal kingdom, a recent report warned of a “bugpocalypse,” as surveys indicated that insects everywhere are declining at an alarming rate. This could mean the extinction of 40 percent of the world’s insect species over the next few decades.
What is particularly worrying is that we don’t know exactly why populations are declining. Agricultural intensification and pesticides are likely a big part of the problem, but it’s certainly more complicated than that, and habitat loss and climate change could also play a part.
Although some newspaper reports have suggested that insects could “vanish within a century” total loss is unlikely—it’s probable that if some species die out, others will move in and take their place. Nevertheless, this loss of diversity could have catastrophic consequences of its own. Insects are ecologically important and if they were to disappear, the consequences for agriculture and wildlife would be dire.
The sprawling kingdom of bugs
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