The revered biologist E.O. Wilson said, “If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.”
That may sound extreme, but it’s not a stretch to say that humans couldn’t exist without insects. Let’s take a few minutes to review the contributions made by these small invertebrates.
First and most obvious, insects pollinate plants—both the plants that provide human food, and plants and trees that provide food and habitat for other species. Then we should consider that insects are food. They are low on the food chain and eaten by other insects, birds, fish, and mammals. If they were to disappear, reverberations would go straight up the food chain to humans.
Insects also play an important role in turning over and renewing soil—more so than earthworms. They contribute to decomposition of vegetation, and they scavenge small dead animals. Without insects dead material would accumulate and nutrients wouldn’t be recycled back to nature.
What life forms would be possible without insects? There would still be wind-pollinated plants, like some grains, ferns, and conifers. But we wouldn’t have the rich biodiversity that supports current levels of human population.
Insect populations are threatened by pesticides and other toxins, habitat fragmentation, and climate change. Insects are critical to human wellbeing and we should be protecting them from extinction.
Web Links
“E.O. Wilson—The Bard of Biodiversity,” Discover Magazine
http://discovermagazine.com/2001/dec/breakdialogue#.UNC4arblVGF
The Smaller Majority, by Photographer and Entomologist Piotr Naskrecki
http://thesmallermajority.com/
Photo, taken on June 15, 2008, courtesy of Christine Majul via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY, with partial support from the Field Day Foundation.