昆虫“灭绝事件”将改变自然

昆虫“灭绝事件”将改变自然

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.

我们可能认为昆虫是害虫，但它们在维持世界自然秩序方面发挥着重要作用。它们为许多其他物种提供食物。它们授粉植物。他们回收养分。

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

昆虫大量减少

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.

关于昆虫的灭绝，不祥之兆已经出现。2018年10月，一个德国研究小组宣布，从1989年到2016年，德国的昆虫数量下降了77%。波多黎各的一名研究人员在再次访问研究地点时报告了类似的昆虫生物量下降，并将20世纪70年代的数据与他在21世纪10年代发现的数据进行了比较。

Butterflies and moths are the insect canaries

蝴蝶和飞蛾是昆虫中的金丝雀

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.

根据这份报告，蝴蝶和飞蛾是受影响最严重的物种，蜜蜂和甲虫紧随其后。例如，2000年至2009年间，英国的蝴蝶数量下降了58%，而1996年至2016年间，俄亥俄州的蝴蝶数量减少了三分之一。据报道，从2017年到2018年，加州帝王蝶的数量下降了86%。

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

其他物种，如蚂蚁、苍蝇和蟋蟀很难测量，但几乎没有理由相信它们现状很好。

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

至于数量减少的原因，Sanchez-Bayo和Wyckhuys指出，我们当前的农业实践是罪魁祸首之一。

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

他还说，更强的杀虫剂会伤害昆虫和农作物周围的土壤，但这也于事无补。

An insect apocalypse

昆虫的启示

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.

另一个经常被忽视的罪魁祸首是光污染。发表在《生物保护杂志》上的一项新研究指出，夜间人工照明是昆虫数量迅速减少的另一个关键因素。

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.

随着本世纪人类发展的迅速扩张，光污染正影响着昆虫的交配习性、运动、觅食和整体发育。想想那些总是聚集在灯泡周围的飞蛾，它们以为是月亮，或者是那些在夜晚死于汽车前灯的数百万昆虫。

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.

昆虫也是其他物种，尤其是鸟类的重要食物。但昆虫捕食者往往对它们有利，捕食那些聚集在人造光周围的昆虫，进一步加速了它们的快速衰退。

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.

幸运的是，这是一个有简单的解决方案的栖息地干扰问题:晚上关灯。它还可以帮助避免蓝白色的灯光，使用阴影，并考虑将你的户外灯光切换到运动激活模式。