A better understanding of insects could help protect them better

The Star

19-05-2025

Insects pollinate 80% of flowering plants and are vital for 35% of the world's food production. — Photos: AFP
Despite general indifference, studies continue to draw alarming conclusions about the dramatic collapse of insect populations in Europe and elsewhere in the world.
Yet these tiny creatures play a fundamental role in maintaining major ecological balances.
A British study, recently published in the journal Science, makes an urgent appeal: better monitoring of these species is becoming crucial if we are to hope to preserve them successfully.
Omnipresent but poorly understood, insects remain largely in the shadows.
Of the more than one million species identified, only 12,100 have been evaluated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and nearly 20% of these are already considered endangered.
This lack of knowledge is ­glaring, especially in the regions of Africa, Asia and South America. Elsewhere, attention is focused on a few emblematic species such as butterflies or bees, leaving a multitude of other insects with essential roles all-but forgotten.
'We need to find out whether insect declines are widespread and what's causing them. The challenge is like a giant jigsaw puzzle where there are thousands of missing pieces, but we do not have decades to wait to fill these gaps and then act,' warns study co-author, Dr Rob Cooke, an ecological modeller at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), quoted in a news release.
Butterflies fly on the banks of the Xingu River in the Kayapo Indigenous territory near the village of Metuktire, in the Amazon rainforest of Mato Grosso state, Brazil.
Vital presence
The figures speak for themselves: insects pollinate 80% of flowering plants and are vital for 35% of the world's food production. And yet, they are still 'undervalued and understudied,' laments Dr Charlotte Outhwaite of the Zoological Society of London.
To help change this, the scientists propose a new analytical framework.
Their approach involves combining data from four methods: time series trends, spatial comparisons, experiments in natural environments and specialist expertise.
This cross-referencing would make it possible to more accurately pinpoint the effects of climate change, land use, pollution and invasive species on insects, even where data is lacking.
Another crucial point is to move beyond the focus on 'star' species.
For example, the unloved earwig attacks aphids, and the despised cockroach recycles organic matter. Every insect, however discreet, plays a vital role.
As such, it's time to change the way we view these tiny creatures.
Now, the researchers hope to enter a phase of action by putting this framework into practice. They intend to mobilise all available sources to model insects' reactions to environmental stresses.
It's a way of doing justice to these billions of tiny lives, whose survival is also linked to our own. – AFP Relaxnews