Insects provide 3 important ecosystem services: - they pollinate plants - they provide food for many creatures (birds, bats, some mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians) - they are predators that control pests --- This study by German scientists revealed that 3/4 of flying insects in nature reserves across Germany have vanished in 25 years: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers What's particularly worrying is that the data was collected in a protected area. --- In 2018, a team of scientists found that insect biomass had declined by 98% over a 36-year period in the heart of the El Yunque rainforest in Puerto Rico. This was far from the effects of civilisation. They surmised that a 2-degrees Centigrade warming had caused the die-off. This is a foreshadowing of what might happen if temperatures increase by that much around the world. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/15/insect-collapse-we-are-destroying-our-life-support-systems --- In 2019, a global review found that between 10% to 40% of insect species are at risk of extinction: https://ipbes.net/global-assessment --- Related: [[The second Silent Spring]]