地球上昆虫数量急速下降，但这并不是一个好消息！
化石记录显示，昆虫已经存在了至少4亿年，但如今，仅仅用了30年时间就消灭了全球四分之一以上的昆虫种群。
The insect population shrunk by 27 percent since the early ’90s, according to a new report, which looked at data of more than 10,000 insect species across 1,676 locations. While analyzing 166 studies conducted between 1925 and 2018, scientists found that the average rate of decline per decade is 9 percent, though with notable variation between regions, according to the findings published Thursday in the journal Science.
根据一份新的报告，自90年代初以来，昆虫数量减少了27%，该报告调查了1676个地区、超过10000种昆虫的数据。根据周四发表在《科学》杂志上的研究结果，科学家们在分析1925年至2018年间进行的166项研究时发现，尽管地区之间存在显著差异，每十年的平均下降率为9%。
“The decline across insect orders on land is jaw-dropping,” says Nick Haddad, Michigan State University butterfly expert, who was not involved in the report.
密歇根州立大学蝴蝶专家尼克·哈达德(Nick Haddad)说：“陆地上昆虫数量的下降令人瞠目结舌。”。
Haddad tells Associated Press that while the thought of fewer bugs may seem appealing, it’s bad news for the planet.
哈达德告诉美联社说，虽然减少虫子数量看起来很有吸引力，但这对地球来说是个坏消息。
“Ongoing decline on land at this rate will be catastrophic for ecological systems and for humans,” he says. “Insects are pollinators, natural enemies of pests, decomposers and besides that, are critical to functioning of all Earth’s ecosystems.”
他说：“以这种速度持续下降的土地对生态系统和人类都将是灾难性的。”。昆虫是传粉者、害虫的天敌、分解者，除此之外，对地球所有生态系统的运转都至关重要。
Other studies have previously revealed an average decline of 3 to 6 percent per year, such as in Europe and North America, particularly the American Midwest, who have lost an average of 4 percent of bugs per year.
此前，其他研究显示，昆虫数量每年平均减少3%至6%，如欧洲和北美，特别是美国中西部地区，每年平均减少4%。
Take California’s monarch butterfly: In the 1980s, the state enjoyed a monarch population of 4.5 million. Today, there are just 29,000. Meanwhile, a 2019 study found that 14 bee species from New England had lost 90 percent of their ranks since the turn of the 20th century. Bees and butterflies, of course, are vital pollinators, and play a critical role in the human food chain.
以加州的帝王蝶为例：上世纪80年代，加州拥有450万帝王蝶。如今，只有29000只。与此同时，2019年的一项研究发现，自20世纪初以来，来自新英格兰的14种蜜蜂已经失去了90%。当然，蜜蜂和蝴蝶是重要的传粉者，在人类食物链中扮演着关键的角色。
Conversely, freshwater insect species actually improved overall, by just over 1 percent per year.
相反，淡水昆虫种类实际上总体上有所改善，每年的增幅仅略高于1%。
Despite the good news for aquatic critters, Brett Seymoure, entomologist and postdoctoral fellow at the Living Earth Collaborative at St. Louis’ Washington University, calls the new meta-analysis more “overwhelming evidence” that insects are on the decline.
尽管这对水生生物来说是个好消息，但圣路易斯华盛顿大学活体地球合作组织(Living Earth Collaborative)的昆虫学家和博士后布雷特•西摩(Brett Seymoure)称，新的元分析提供了更为“压倒性的证据”，表明昆虫数量正在下降。
“It is likely that aquatic insect populations were in very rough shape and are now rebounding, which is great, but I don’t think we should take that as an indicator that the insect populations of aquatic habitats are as healthy as they were before the Industrial Revolution,” Seymoure tells Earther. “But it is a hopeful trend!”
“水生昆虫种群很可能处于非常粗糙的状态，现在正在反弹，这是很好的，但我不认为我们应该把这作为一个指标，表明水生栖息地的昆虫种群与工业革命前一样健康，”西摩告诉瓦特尔。“但这是一个充满希望的趋势!”
Scientists suggest that human-induced climate change may be a factor, but, more specifically, industrialized farming and urban sprawl may be the key drivers of insect loss. They also point out that study data is lacking in some of the most biodiverse regions of the world, such as the tropics — the inclusion of which would likely impact overall results.
科学家们认为，人类引起的气候变化可能是一个因素，但更具体地说，工业化农业和城市蔓延可能是昆虫损失的主要驱动因素。他们还指出，在世界上生物多样性最强的一些地区，如热带地区，缺乏研究数据，这些数据的纳入可能会影响总体结果。
