Extinction fears bug experts

ECOLOGISTS have unveiled strong evidence that huge numbers of the world’s species are disappearing, reports the latest edition of Nature.

A survey of British wildlife suggests that insects – thought to be among the most resilient species – are suffering similar extinction rates to larger, better-studied animals. “If the same is happening worldwide, we may be witnessing the largest die-off since the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs,” says Jeremy Thomas of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Dorset, UK, who led the study.Thomas’s team analysed surveys of British birds, plants and butterflies stretching back 40 years.The statistics, collected by 20 000 amateur naturalists, form an unprecedented census of insects.Of 58 butterfly species, 71 per cent have declined or disappeared over the past 20 years, alongside 54 per cent of birds.The past 40 years has seen declines in 28 per cent of plants studied.Experts had assumed that the sheer number of insects would safeguard them against mass extinction.”As insects comprise more than 50 per cent of the planet’s species, a large die-off would be bad news for global diversity,” he adds.”If the same is happening worldwide, we may be witnessing the largest die-off since the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs,” says Jeremy Thomas of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Dorset, UK, who led the study.Thomas’s team analysed surveys of British birds, plants and butterflies stretching back 40 years.The statistics, collected by 20 000 amateur naturalists, form an unprecedented census of insects.Of 58 butterfly species, 71 per cent have declined or disappeared over the past 20 years, alongside 54 per cent of birds.The past 40 years has seen declines in 28 per cent of plants studied.Experts had assumed that the sheer number of insects would safeguard them against mass extinction.”As insects comprise more than 50 per cent of the planet’s species, a large die-off would be bad news for global diversity,” he adds.