Imagine someone comes to your community and destroys and removes your food and shelter. They also spread poisons that sicken and kill many. Your species and others disappear entirely from some areas and others are endangered or threatened. The landscape you once relied on is now completely changed, and over the years resources become more scarce as you witness many of your friends and family dying from lack of nutrition, disease, and toxic exposure...
This scenario may sound like some dystopian science fiction novel, but for our insects and wildlife it's a sad reality!
Biodiversity is defined as, "the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem." A healthy, balanced diversity of species keeps our ecosystems healthy.
Human activities have changed the landscape of the planet in ways that have seriously harmed native species and decreased biodiversity. All insects, including pollinators are declining at an alarming rate. This is due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to
Research published in 2014 details a serious decline in global insect and invertebrate populations. The data showed a 45 percent decline over the last four decades. In 2021 Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences published 11 research papers from 56 global experts documenting what has been dubbed the "insect apocalypse."
Biodiversity is defined as, "the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem." A healthy, balanced diversity of species keeps our ecosystems healthy.
Human activities have changed the landscape of the planet in ways that have seriously harmed native species and decreased biodiversity. All insects, including pollinators are declining at an alarming rate. This is due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to
- habitat loss
- climate change
- pesticides
Research published in 2014 details a serious decline in global insect and invertebrate populations. The data showed a 45 percent decline over the last four decades. In 2021 Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences published 11 research papers from 56 global experts documenting what has been dubbed the "insect apocalypse."
"You're losing 10-20% of your animals over a single decade and that is just absolutely frightening. You're tearing apart the tapestry of life." - University of Connecticut entomologist David Wagner
The losses do not stop with insects alone, bird species are also in serious decline. Nearly 3 billion birds have disappeared since 1970 according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Our local ecosystems and the insects, birds and other wildlife that have evolved together have been fragmented, poisoned, and destroyed by humans. By planting exotic plants that do not support insect life and the birds that need them, combined with the widespread use of cosmetic pesticides, we have turned our urban and suburban environments into a place that does not sustain the native species that were here before us.
Native plants are foundational to a functioning ecosystem. - U.S. Geological Survey
Native birds, bees, butterflies, moths, bats and other pollinators need native plants to survive. By only planting or managing landscapes with aesthetics in mind, humans have degraded the natural ecosystems that we and so many other species depend on.
While the situation is truly serious, the good news is that this crisis is one of our own creation, and we have the ability to change it. We can restore and regenerate our landscapes by changing the way we manage them. The most challenging aspect of this will be changing how we think.
While the situation is truly serious, the good news is that this crisis is one of our own creation, and we have the ability to change it. We can restore and regenerate our landscapes by changing the way we manage them. The most challenging aspect of this will be changing how we think.
"My point is this: each of the acres we have developed for specific human goals is an opportunity to add to Homegrown National Park. We already are actively managing nearly all of our privately owned lands and much of the public spaces in the United States. We simply need to include ecological function in our management plans to keep the sixth mass extinction at bay." ― Douglas W. Tallamy, Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard
Education about the causes of biodiversity loss and the solutions available are critical to stopping and reversing the damage already done. The situation is urgent and we need as many people as possible to contribute.
We can start literally, with our own backyards. Our cities, schools and homeowners associations also provide opportunities to adopt organic land care practices that help address some of the causes of these mass extinctions mentioned at the outset of this page.