Insect Die-off: Even Common Species Are Becoming Rare (sciencedaily.com)

Scientists at Senckenberg Nature Research Society and Technical University of Munich (TUM) have been able to show that currently widespread insects are threatened with a serious decline in species diversity in the near future. From the report: The research team lists the fragmentation of habitats and the intensification of agriculture as reasons for the decline of these "generalists." According to the study, published today in the scientific journal Biological Conservation, the genetic diversity among the examined butterfly species is also expected to decline sharply in the future -- as a result, the insects will become more sensitive to environmental changes.

Comments

Re:Fireflies

[Anonymous Coward]

Or yeah.http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6345/1393
Country-specific effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on honey bees and wild bees
Science 30 Jun 2017:
Vol. 356, Issue 6345, pp. 1393-1395
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa1190

Damage confirmed
Early studies of the impacts of neonicotinoid insecticides on insect pollinators indicated considerable harm. However, lingering criticism was that the studies did not represent field-realistic levels of the chemicals or prevailing environmental conditions. Two studies, conducted on different crops and on two continents, now substantiate that neonicotinoids diminish bee health (see the Perspective by Kerr). Tsvetkov et al. find that bees near corn crops are exposed to neonicotinoids for 3 to 4 months via nontarget pollen, resulting in decreased survival and immune responses, especially when coexposed to a commonly used agrochemical fungicide. Woodcock et al., in a multicounty experiment on rapeseed in Europe, find that neonicotinoid exposure from several nontarget sources reduces overwintering success and colony reproduction in both honeybees and wild bees. These field results confirm that neonicotinoids negatively affect pollinator health under realistic agricultural conditions.

Re:What can you do to help?

[tlhIngan]

They shouldn't be eating any "crops" except what they can graze. If you feed animals corn, soy, etc. they will become just as unhealthy as people who eat that kind of food.

Most corn harvested in the US goes to feed for animals, actually. Free range animals graze and are often "grass fed", but the vast majority of meat is at factory farms where the cows don't graze but are fed troughs of corn to fatten them up quickly and slaughter.

The demand for meat is high enough that free range beef will not satisfy demand and would case prices to spike (not that beef is cheap these days - it's still hitting all time high prices)