The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World

The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World
Author: Oliver Milman
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2022-03-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1324006609

A devastating examination of how collapsing insect populations worldwide threaten everything from wild birds to the food on our plate. From ants scurrying under leaf litter to bees able to fly higher than Mount Kilimanjaro, insects are everywhere. Three out of every four of our planet’s known animal species are insects. In The Insect Crisis, acclaimed journalist Oliver Milman dives into the torrent of recent evidence that suggests this kaleidoscopic group of creatures is suffering the greatest existential crisis in its remarkable 400-million-year history. What is causing the collapse of the insect world? Why does this alarming decline pose such a threat to us? And what can be done to stem the loss of the miniature empires that hold aloft life as we know it? With urgency and great clarity, Milman explores this hidden emergency, arguing that its consequences could even rival climate change. He joins the scientists tracking the decline of insect populations across the globe, including the soaring mountains of Mexico that host an epic, yet dwindling, migration of monarch butterflies; the verdant countryside of England that has been emptied of insect life; the gargantuan fields of U.S. agriculture that have proved a killing ground for bees; and an offbeat experiment in Denmark that shows there aren’t that many bugs splattering into your car windshield these days. These losses not only further tear at the tapestry of life on our degraded planet; they imperil everything we hold dear, from the food on our supermarket shelves to the medicines in our cabinets to the riot of nature that thrills and enlivens us. Even insects we may dread, including the hated cockroach, or the stinging wasp, play crucial ecological roles, and their decline would profoundly shape our own story. By connecting butterfly and bee, moth and beetle from across the globe, the full scope of loss renders a portrait of a crisis that threatens to upend the workings of our collective history. Part warning, part celebration of the incredible variety of insects, The Insect Crisis is a wake-up call for us all.

Insect Biodiversity

Insect Biodiversity
Author: Robert G. Foottit
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 1635
Release: 2018-04-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 111894559X

Volume Two of the new guide to the study of biodiversity in insects Volume Two of Insect Biodiversity: Science and Society presents an entirely new, companion volume of a comprehensive resource for the most current research on the influence insects have on humankind and on our endangered environment. With contributions from leading researchers and scholars on the topic, the text explores relevant topics including biodiversity in different habitats and regions, taxonomic groups, and perspectives. Volume Two offers coverage of insect biodiversity in regional settings, such as the Arctic and Asia, and in particular habitats including crops, caves, and islands. The authors also include information on historical, cultural, technical, and climatic perspectives of insect biodiversity. This book explores the wide variety of insect species and their evolutionary relationships. Case studies offer assessments on how insect biodiversity can help meet the needs of a rapidly expanding human population, and examine the consequences that an increased loss of insect species will have on the world. This important text: Offers the most up-to-date information on the important topic of insect biodiversity Explores vital topics such as the impact on insect biodiversity through habitat loss and degradation and climate change With its companion Volume I, presents current information on the biodiversity of all insect orders Contains reviews of insect biodiversity in culture and art, in the fossil record, and in agricultural systems Includes scientific approaches and methods for the study of insect biodiversity The book offers scientists, academics, professionals, and students a guide for a better understanding of the biology and ecology of insects, highlighting the need to sustainably manage ecosystems in an ever-changing global environment.

Agroclimatology

Agroclimatology
Author: Jerry L. Hatfield
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 656
Release: 2020-01-22
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0891183574

Can we unlock resilience to climate stress by better understanding linkages between the environment and biological systems? Agroclimatology allows us to explore how different processes determine plant response to climate and how climate drives the distribution of crops and their productivity. Editors Jerry L. Hatfield, Mannava V.K. Sivakumar, and John H. Prueger have taken a comprehensive view of agroclimatology to assist and challenge researchers in this important area of study. Major themes include: principles of energy exchange and climatology, understanding climate change and agriculture, linkages of specific biological systems to climatology, the context of pests and diseases, methods of agroclimatology, and the application of agroclimatic principles to problem-solving in agriculture.

Biological Extinction

Biological Extinction
Author: Partha Dasgupta
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 465
Release: 2019-09-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1108482287

Questions why species are becoming extinct, and how we can protect the natural world on which we all depend.

Climate Change and Insect Biodiversity

Climate Change and Insect Biodiversity
Author: Habib Ali
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2023-12-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1003818285

Key points - 1 Reviews the effects of climate change on plant-insect interactions 2 Includes topics such insect biodiversity informatics and conservation 3 Discusses food security, pest management, and beneficial and social insects 4 Covers topics like precision agriculture and climate-smart agriculture 5 Provides insights on the relation between agriculture intensification and insect biodiversity

Environmental Pest Management

Environmental Pest Management
Author: Moshe Coll
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 562
Release: 2017-07-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1119255597

A wide-ranging, interdisciplinary exploration of key topics that interrelate pest management, public health and the environment This book takes a unique, multidimensional approach to addressing the complex issues surrounding pest management activities and their impacts on the environment and human health, and environmental effects on plant protection practices. It features contributions by a distinguished group of authors from ten countries, representing an array of disciplines. They include plant protection scientists and officers, economists, agronomists, ecologists, environmental and public health scientists and government policymakers. Over the course of eighteen chapters, those experts share their insights into and analyses of an array of issues of vital concern to everyone with a professional interest in this important subject. The adverse effects of pest control have become a subject of great concern worldwide, and researchers and enlightened policymakers have at last begun to appreciate the impact of environmental factors on our ability to manage pest populations. Moreover, while issues such as pesticide toxicity have dominated the global conversation about pest management, economic and societal considerations have been largely neglected. Environmental Pest Management: Challenges for Agronomists, Ecologists, Economists and Policymakers is the first work to provide in-depth coverage of all of these pressing issues between the covers of one book. Offers a unique multi-dimensional perspective on the complex issues surrounding pest management activities and their effect on the environment and human health Addresses growing concerns about specific pest management strategies, including the use of transgenic crops and biological controls Analyses the influence of global processes, such as climate change, biological invasions and shifts in consumer demand, and ecosystem services and disservices on pest suppression efforts Explores public health concerns regarding biodiversity, pesticide use and food safety Identifies key economic drivers of pest suppression research, strategies and technologies Proposes new regulatory approaches to create sustainable and viable crop protection systems in the framework of agro-environmental schemes Offering a timely and comprehensively-unique treatment of pest management and its environmental impacts in a single, inter-disciplinary volume, this book is a valuable resource for scientists in an array of disciplines, as well as government officials and policymakers. Also, teachers of undergraduate and graduate level courses in a variety of fields are sure to find it a highly useful teaching resource.

Global Climate Change and Terrestrial Invertebrates

Global Climate Change and Terrestrial Invertebrates
Author: Scott N. Johnson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2017-02-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1119070902

Invertebrates perform such vital roles in global ecosystems—and so strongly influence human wellbeing—that biologist E.O. Wilson was prompted to describe them as “little things that run the world.” As they are such powerful shapers of the world around us, their response to global climate change is also pivotal in meeting myriad challenges looming on the horizon—everything from food security and biodiversity to human disease control. This book presents a comprehensive overview of the latest scientific knowledge and contemporary theory relating to global climate change and terrestrial invertebrates. Featuring contributions from top international experts, this book explores how changes to invertebrate populations will affect human decision making processes across a number of crucial issues, including agriculture, disease control, conservation planning, and resource allocation. Topics covered include methodologies and approaches to predict invertebrate responses, outcomes for disease vectors and ecosystem service providers, underlying mechanisms for community level responses to global climate change, evolutionary consequences and likely effects on interactions among organisms, and many more. Timely and thought-provoking, Global Climate Change and Terrestrial Invertebrates offers illuminating insights into the profound influence the simplest of organisms may have on the very future of our fragile world.

Insect Conservation Biology

Insect Conservation Biology
Author: Royal Entomological Society of London. Symposium
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 471
Release: 2007-01-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1845932544

These proceedings contain papers on insect conservation biology that are classified under 3 themes: (1) the current status of insect conservation, and major avenues for progress and hindrances (6 papers); (2) insects as model organisms in conservation biology (6 papers); and (3) future directions in insect conservation biology (6 papers).

Health of People, Health of Planet and Our Responsibility

Health of People, Health of Planet and Our Responsibility
Author: Wael Al-Delaimy
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2020-05-13
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3030311252

This open access book not only describes the challenges of climate disruption, but also presents solutions. The challenges described include air pollution, climate change, extreme weather, and related health impacts that range from heat stress, vector-borne diseases, food and water insecurity and chronic diseases to malnutrition and mental well-being. The influence of humans on climate change has been established through extensive published evidence and reports. However, the connections between climate change, the health of the planet and the impact on human health have not received the same level of attention. Therefore, the global focus on the public health impacts of climate change is a relatively recent area of interest. This focus is timely since scientists have concluded that changes in climate have led to new weather extremes such as floods, storms, heat waves, droughts and fires, in turn leading to more than 600,000 deaths and the displacement of nearly 4 billion people in the last 20 years. Previous work on the health impacts of climate change was limited mostly to epidemiologic approaches and outcomes and focused less on multidisciplinary, multi-faceted collaborations between physical scientists, public health researchers and policy makers. Further, there was little attention paid to faith-based and ethical approaches to the problem. The solutions and actions we explore in this book engage diverse sectors of civil society, faith leadership, and political leadership, all oriented by ethics, advocacy, and policy with a special focus on poor and vulnerable populations. The book highlights areas we think will resonate broadly with the public, faith leaders, researchers and students across disciplines including the humanities, and policy makers.