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Mosquitos inhabit an ecological niche that is much safer to eradicate than snakes. Mosquitos' predators have many other sources of food so they're not critical
by throwup238 3y ago
Mosquitos inhabit an ecological niche that is much safer to eradicate than snakes. Mosquitos' predators have many other sources of food so they're not critical to any species and they're not predators that keep prey populations in check. They're just a deadly nuisance to humans without access to plentiful modern medicine.
Snakes on the other hand as mid-level predators are likely keystone species [1] and killing them would wreck their ecosystems by letting rodent populations grow out of control. In California they keep ground squirrel populations in check and provide a source of food for all kinds of raptors.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_species https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_species
- dendrite9 3y agoBut mosquitos pollinate plants so eliminating them would not be a harmless act. They are clearly far more deadly than snakes though. The number of deaths per year they are responsible for always impresses me.
- swores 3y agoDo they pollinate any plant types that only rely on mosquitos, or would mosquitos going away just allow other insects/moths/etc to grow in population size thanks to more available pollen?