5 ms·

Don’t you dare rake your leaves this fall – mosquitoes and biodiversity collapse

3 points by myshpa 3y ago

myshpa 3y ago
> Without insects, the legendary biologist E.O. Wilson wrote nearly 40 years ago, “I doubt that the human species could last more than a few months.” First, “most of the fishes, amphibians, birds and mammals would crash to extinction.” Next would go the flowering plants and forests. “The earth would rot,” he continued, and the remaining vertebrates would disappear. “Within a few decades the world would return to the state of a billion years ago, composed primarily of bacteria, algae and a few other very simple multicellular plants.” This is why the biodiversity loss is one of the biggest problems of today. https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-insect-population-flying-bugs-climate-change-pesticides-population-decline-2017-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-insect-population-fl... A 27-year study found the amount of insects flying in the air has declined 75% https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GLOBAL-ENVIRONMENT/INSECT-APOCALYPSE/egpbykdxjvq/ https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GLOBAL-ENVIRONMENT/INSECT-A... The collapse of insects - The most diverse group of organisms on the planet are in trouble, with recent research suggesting insect populations are declining at an unprecedented rate https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/our-global-food-system-primary-driver-biodiversity-loss https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/our-glob... Our global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26231772/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26231772/ Biodiversity conservation: The key is reducing meat consumption https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01448-4 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01448-4 Humans are driving one million species to extinction - UN-backed report finds that agriculture is one of the biggest threats to Earth’s ecosystems https://phys.org/news/2023-04-climate-crisis-biodiversity-approached.html https://phys.org/news/2023-04-climate-crisis-biodiversity-ap... The climate crisis and biodiversity crisis can't be approached separately, says study
- cvalka 3y ago
  Biodiversity goals are nonsense. Don't bet against evolution abd natural selection.
  - myshpa 3y ago
    We can't survive without biodiversity. All previous mass extinctions took approximately 1.8 million years. We might be able to manage the current one in 100 years. There's nothing natural about this extinction, and there isn't enough time for evolution either. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/01/insect-removal-problems-ecosystem/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/01/insect-re... “We are seeing the rapid decline of insects pretty much anywhere that they’re studied.” It’s hard to overstate how ruinous this could be. If this mass extinction of insects isn’t reversed, it will decimate the entire food chain, threaten crop pollination and generally cause havoc. Some bird and mammal populations are already shrinking even faster than the bugs are. Without insects, the legendary biologist E.O. Wilson wrote nearly 40 years ago, “I doubt that the human species could last more than a few months.” First, “most of the fishes, amphibians, birds and mammals would crash to extinction.” Next would go the flowering plants and forests. “The earth would rot,” he continued, and the remaining vertebrates would disappear. “Within a few decades the world would return to the state of a billion years ago, composed primarily of bacteria, algae and a few other very simple multicellular plants.”
    - cvalka 3y ago
      Insects aren't going anywhere and Dana Milbank is a moron.
      - myshpa 3y ago
        Ah, that was truly a riveting exchange of ideas. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719317823 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000632071... Scientists' warning to humanity on insect extinctions https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/earth-systems/the-insect-effect/ https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/earth-systems/the-insect-e... The Insect Effect: Insect Decline and the Future of Our Planet https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-insect-population-flying-bugs-climate-change-pesticides-population-decline-2017-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-insect-population-fl... A 27-year study found the amount of insects flying in the air has declined 75% https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeting-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeti... Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature' https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/insect-bug-medicine-food-macneal https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/insect-bu... Without Bugs, We Might All Be Dead https://e360.yale.edu/features/insect_numbers_declining_why_it_matters https://e360.yale.edu/features/insect_numbers_declining_why_... What’s Causing the Sharp Decline in Insects, and Why It Matters Insect populations are declining dramatically in many parts of the world, recent studies show. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52399373 https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52399373 Nature crisis: 'Insect apocalypse' more complicated than thought https://phys.org/news/2019-02-world-catastrophic-collapse-insects.html https://phys.org/news/2019-02-world-catastrophic-collapse-in... World seeing 'catastrophic collapse' of insects: study https://phys.org/news/2020-02-half-a-million-insect-species-extinction-scientists.html https://phys.org/news/2020-02-half-a-million-insect-species-... Half-a-million insect species face extinction: scientists And that's just insects.
mytailorisrich 3y ago
It useful, more diverse, and good-looking to keep areas of the garden without grass. Borders, trees, shrubs, etc. When autumn comes you can then rake fallen leaves off the grass and into the other areas to be used as mulch. They rot quite quickly so don't accumulate year on year.
aksss 3y ago
Jeez, that’s a lot of set up for one paragraph stating, “Stop mowing your lawn so often and let it stay shaggy. Don’t rake and bag your leaves this fall. Quit deadheading flowers and cutting back dead stalks. This creates refuges for insects. If your neighbors ask why you’ve let your yard go, tell them you’re saving the planet — for bugs and humans. “Probably the most important thing is to have a messy yard,” Grames counsels. Of course, stop the pesticides.” Headline is a bit misleading with the Greta-ish admonition, this article is largely about the author’s incompetent mosquito eradication efforts, a move to the country, more bugs, better biodiversity, and then launches into some good prescriptions for how you can manage a yard to help improve biodiversity. Not much beyond the pull quote there. I’m one of the few in my neighborhood that doesn’t take the leaves up over winter, but I think since our house is otherwise above the average in curb appeal we’ve never had anyone gripe about it. If you’re going to leave the yard “shaggy”, make sure you compensate in other areas of the exterior so it doesn’t look like you’re just letting the whole place go. Oh, and buy a few of those bug zapper tennis rackets for your social sessions outdoors. They’re fun and effective for bugs in arm’s reach without systemically destroying the ecosystem.

3 points by myshpa 3y ago

> Without insects, the legendary biologist E.O. Wilson wrote nearly 40 years ago, “I doubt that the human species could last more than a few months.” First, “most of the fishes, amphibians, birds and mammals would crash to extinction.” Next would go the flowering plants and forests. “The earth would rot,” he continued, and the remaining vertebrates would disappear. “Within a few decades the world would return to the state of a billion years ago, composed primarily of bacteria, algae and a few other very simple multicellular plants.” This is why the biodiversity loss is one of the biggest problems of today. https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-insect-population-flying-bugs-climate-change-pesticides-population-decline-2017-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-insect-population-fl... A 27-year study found the amount of insects flying in the air has declined 75% https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GLOBAL-ENVIRONMENT/INSECT-APOCALYPSE/egpbykdxjvq/ https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GLOBAL-ENVIRONMENT/INSECT-A... The collapse of insects - The most diverse group of organisms on the planet are in trouble, with recent research suggesting insect populations are declining at an unprecedented rate https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/our-global-food-system-primary-driver-biodiversity-loss https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/our-glob... Our global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26231772/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26231772/ Biodiversity conservation: The key is reducing meat consumption https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01448-4 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01448-4 Humans are driving one million species to extinction - UN-backed report finds that agriculture is one of the biggest threats to Earth’s ecosystems https://phys.org/news/2023-04-climate-crisis-biodiversity-approached.html https://phys.org/news/2023-04-climate-crisis-biodiversity-ap... The climate crisis and biodiversity crisis can't be approached separately, says study

cvalka 3y ago
Biodiversity goals are nonsense. Don't bet against evolution abd natural selection.
- myshpa 3y ago
  We can't survive without biodiversity. All previous mass extinctions took approximately 1.8 million years. We might be able to manage the current one in 100 years. There's nothing natural about this extinction, and there isn't enough time for evolution either. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/01/insect-removal-problems-ecosystem/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/01/insect-re... “We are seeing the rapid decline of insects pretty much anywhere that they’re studied.” It’s hard to overstate how ruinous this could be. If this mass extinction of insects isn’t reversed, it will decimate the entire food chain, threaten crop pollination and generally cause havoc. Some bird and mammal populations are already shrinking even faster than the bugs are. Without insects, the legendary biologist E.O. Wilson wrote nearly 40 years ago, “I doubt that the human species could last more than a few months.” First, “most of the fishes, amphibians, birds and mammals would crash to extinction.” Next would go the flowering plants and forests. “The earth would rot,” he continued, and the remaining vertebrates would disappear. “Within a few decades the world would return to the state of a billion years ago, composed primarily of bacteria, algae and a few other very simple multicellular plants.”
  - cvalka 3y ago
    Insects aren't going anywhere and Dana Milbank is a moron.
    - myshpa 3y ago
      Ah, that was truly a riveting exchange of ideas. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719317823 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000632071... Scientists' warning to humanity on insect extinctions https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/earth-systems/the-insect-effect/ https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/earth-systems/the-insect-e... The Insect Effect: Insect Decline and the Future of Our Planet https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-insect-population-flying-bugs-climate-change-pesticides-population-decline-2017-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-insect-population-fl... A 27-year study found the amount of insects flying in the air has declined 75% https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeting-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeti... Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature' https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/insect-bug-medicine-food-macneal https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/insect-bu... Without Bugs, We Might All Be Dead https://e360.yale.edu/features/insect_numbers_declining_why_it_matters https://e360.yale.edu/features/insect_numbers_declining_why_... What’s Causing the Sharp Decline in Insects, and Why It Matters Insect populations are declining dramatically in many parts of the world, recent studies show. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52399373 https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52399373 Nature crisis: 'Insect apocalypse' more complicated than thought https://phys.org/news/2019-02-world-catastrophic-collapse-insects.html https://phys.org/news/2019-02-world-catastrophic-collapse-in... World seeing 'catastrophic collapse' of insects: study https://phys.org/news/2020-02-half-a-million-insect-species-extinction-scientists.html https://phys.org/news/2020-02-half-a-million-insect-species-... Half-a-million insect species face extinction: scientists And that's just insects.

mytailorisrich 3y ago

It useful, more diverse, and good-looking to keep areas of the garden without grass. Borders, trees, shrubs, etc. When autumn comes you can then rake fallen leaves off the grass and into the other areas to be used as mulch. They rot quite quickly so don't accumulate year on year.

aksss 3y ago

Jeez, that’s a lot of set up for one paragraph stating, “Stop mowing your lawn so often and let it stay shaggy. Don’t rake and bag your leaves this fall. Quit deadheading flowers and cutting back dead stalks. This creates refuges for insects. If your neighbors ask why you’ve let your yard go, tell them you’re saving the planet — for bugs and humans. “Probably the most important thing is to have a messy yard,” Grames counsels. Of course, stop the pesticides.” Headline is a bit misleading with the Greta-ish admonition, this article is largely about the author’s incompetent mosquito eradication efforts, a move to the country, more bugs, better biodiversity, and then launches into some good prescriptions for how you can manage a yard to help improve biodiversity. Not much beyond the pull quote there. I’m one of the few in my neighborhood that doesn’t take the leaves up over winter, but I think since our house is otherwise above the average in curb appeal we’ve never had anyone gripe about it. If you’re going to leave the yard “shaggy”, make sure you compensate in other areas of the exterior so it doesn’t look like you’re just letting the whole place go. Oh, and buy a few of those bug zapper tennis rackets for your social sessions outdoors. They’re fun and effective for bugs in arm’s reach without systemically destroying the ecosystem.