4 ms·
On the one hand we don't have data still for how eradicating mosquitoes would disturb the ecosystem, there are just too many complex interactions. There are pro
by carlmr 5y ago
On the one hand we don't have data still for how eradicating mosquitoes would disturb the ecosystem, there are just too many complex interactions. There are probably plenty of species specializing on preying on mosquitoes out there that we don't know of.
However currently humanity is killing off a lot of insects without targeting a specific species, so potentially disturbing mosquito based ecosystems doesn't seem terrible in comparison.
- IntrepidWorm 5y agoI agree- as pestilent as mosquitoes are to humans, there's no denying that they represent significant insect biomass, to be consumed by multiple other species - honestly, with everything else happening to the climate, birds and bats are going to have a hard enough time as it is. That's the real beauty of this approach- introducing wolbachia doesn't seem to have any effect on mosquito population, but rather on the population of dengue-carrying mosquitoes. The dengue virus is not nearly as important to local ecology, as far as I am aware. Theres such an extreme litany of viruses, most of which have no measurable impact on human existence, that the reduction or even elimination of one species (if that's the right term- pendants I apologise) should be without negative consequence.