5 ms·

Because these insects are eaten by other animals which are eaten by other animals which are... You get the point. The food chain can collapse and some animals

by tpetry 7y ago

Because these insects are eaten by other animals which are eaten by other animals which are... You get the point. The food chain can collapse and some animals are doing good things for the environment.

k_ 7y ago
Add pollination to the equation and we're even more fucked =/
kingkawn 7y ago
Insects also are primary processors of rotting biomass. Without them we will soon find that corpses last longer. They are also the primary source of crop pollination. Without them much of our food won’t be pollinated and reproduce well. We need them.
- DoingIsLearning 7y ago
  That's an interesting point. Does that mean that projected times of death based on decomposition (As seen on the pseudo scientific scenes in CSI) could actually be drifting over time due to less decomposition agents? Is their any data to back this hypothesis?
  - NikkiA 7y ago
    Anyone that tells you a time of death beyond about 20 hours is lying. And the estimates below that are usually based on processes that haven't changed (loss of body heat, chemical changes in blood, and bacterial processes in the gut).
    - DoingIsLearning 7y ago
      So CSI was actually a lie! On a serious note, TIL.
kristiandupont 7y ago
This short video about wolves in Yellowstone National Park gives a good intro to the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q
Kaiyou 7y ago
Sorry, I still don't understand what the bad consequences of some animals dying are. Aren't all animals we need kept and fed by us? What are these good things some animals are doing for the environment?
- jazzyjackson 7y ago
  The term in the field is "Ecosystem Services" if you want to do some googling. We rely on nature for the air we breathe and the water we drink, we haven't figured out how to be independent yet. Animals, insects, and plants all support each other to become flourishing ecosystems. Larger animals keep the population of smaller animals in check. Smaller animals keep the population of insects in check. I'm not an expert on specifically which animals and insects do what, I just know that a dense, varied ecosystems keep the planet running smoothly. My favorite writer on the subject right now is 'Charles Eisenstein', who even proposes that ecosystems have a stabilizing effect on the weather -- it might not be that carbon dioxide / higher temperatures produce more chaotic weather systems, but that the ecosystems we are so careless to destroy have regulating effects on the production of clouds and precipitation. The less life there is on earth, the more chaotic the whole system becomes.

by tpetry 7y ago

k_ 7y ago

Add pollination to the equation and we're even more fucked =/

kingkawn 7y ago

Insects also are primary processors of rotting biomass. Without them we will soon find that corpses last longer. They are also the primary source of crop pollination. Without them much of our food won’t be pollinated and reproduce well. We need them.

DoingIsLearning 7y ago
That's an interesting point. Does that mean that projected times of death based on decomposition (As seen on the pseudo scientific scenes in CSI) could actually be drifting over time due to less decomposition agents? Is their any data to back this hypothesis?
- NikkiA 7y ago
  Anyone that tells you a time of death beyond about 20 hours is lying. And the estimates below that are usually based on processes that haven't changed (loss of body heat, chemical changes in blood, and bacterial processes in the gut).
  - DoingIsLearning 7y ago
    So CSI was actually a lie! On a serious note, TIL.

kristiandupont 7y ago

This short video about wolves in Yellowstone National Park gives a good intro to the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q

Kaiyou 7y ago

Sorry, I still don't understand what the bad consequences of some animals dying are. Aren't all animals we need kept and fed by us? What are these good things some animals are doing for the environment?

jazzyjackson 7y ago
The term in the field is "Ecosystem Services" if you want to do some googling. We rely on nature for the air we breathe and the water we drink, we haven't figured out how to be independent yet. Animals, insects, and plants all support each other to become flourishing ecosystems. Larger animals keep the population of smaller animals in check. Smaller animals keep the population of insects in check. I'm not an expert on specifically which animals and insects do what, I just know that a dense, varied ecosystems keep the planet running smoothly. My favorite writer on the subject right now is 'Charles Eisenstein', who even proposes that ecosystems have a stabilizing effect on the weather -- it might not be that carbon dioxide / higher temperatures produce more chaotic weather systems, but that the ecosystems we are so careless to destroy have regulating effects on the production of clouds and precipitation. The less life there is on earth, the more chaotic the whole system becomes.