Page 10 - 2005 DT 12 Issues

Bug Off? No Way! would starve in no time at all. Those out insects to clean up after us, all our
birds and other animals that depend on detritus would pile up around our ears.
here would we be without birds for food would disappear. Small They dispose of the waste that all ani-
them . . . those creepy, crawl- mammals in the soil that depend, in part, mals and plants produce and decompose
Wing, buzzing, stinging, biting on insects would disappear. It would be the dead. They are food for many spe-
insects? Actually, we wouldn’t be at all. a catastrophic chain reaction around cies and they aerate and enrich the soil.
As humbling as it seems, without insects the world.”
to pollinate flowering plants, verte- The oceans would be affected as
brates—and thus mammals—would well, as nutrients drained off the
never have evolved. A sobering denuded land into the sea creating mas-
thought, indeed. sive algal blooms that would quickly
Those flowering plants, or an- exhaust the oceans’ oxygen, endanger-
giosperms, on which we depend in one ing the fish.
way or another for nearly all our food While humans depend on insects for
became dominant at the same time their ultimate wellbeing, insects are
winged insects evolved to pollinate hardly dependent on us. Except for a
them, about 65 million years ago. Just small subset of insects that would prob- Like all living things, insects can
as the dinosaurs were bowing out ably not exist in their current abundance possess a beauty all their own. Think of
leaving an enormous niche unfilled, if not for us—cockroaches that follow the graceful damsel fly, the comic wa-
grasslands and forests came into exist- our crumbs, certain lice, many species ter skimmer, the adorable ladybug, the
ence and with them, an enormous source of mosquitoes, the common bedbug, ancient and imposing dragonfly, the iri-
of food, thanks to those insects. Burrowing houseflies, carpet beetles, silverfish, and descent scarab beetle, the jewel-like
insects did their part, too, by creating some species of moths and fleas, among butterfly, the elegant mantis, the regal
others—the vast majority will manage sphinx moth and even the dainty mos-
without us long after we are gone from quito. All in all, you just have to admire
the planet. these resilient and superior denizens that
Considering the debt we owe them, have allowed us to share their planet. ‰
why are we so intolerant of these often
social beings that generally do us no Campground News
personal harm? Like us, they have
evolved elaborate communication tech-
niques, are industrious, organized, Scott and I would like to extend a
thrifty, vocal; they make love, war and BIG THANK YOU to Chuck Williams,
music and boast solders, farmers, wood Mark Beauchamp and his Canyon
the soil in which the plants grew. Small cutters, weavers and carpenters among Keepers—Victor Goolsby, Sheldon
mammals thrived in the new their numbers. Perhaps it is because they Rabin, Francisco Loza, Wyat Mulvey, Al
environment, dining on seeds, nuts, so vastly outnumber us that we feel Berg, Richard Lewnau and Fred
flowers, and of course, insects. You discomfort. Or maybe it’s because we Jorgensen—for their assistance in
know the rest. are rarely without them, even if we assembling the 28 recycling containers
can’t see them.
on Saturday, Jan 15 . It was a beautiful
th
But what if insects were to suddenly Our animus is unjustified. Of the morning at the campground and the work
vanish overnight? Harvard biologist approximately 9 million species of in- progressed quickly.
Edward O. Wilson believes that humans sects thought to populate Earth—most We are planning another workday in
would very likely be endangered. All of which we haven’t yet discovered— order to get the containers installed—
those plants that insects pollinate would only about one and a half percent do us either Saturday, Jan. 29 or Saturday,
th
disappear. The impact on terrestrial eco- any harm. The rest either have no direct Feb. 5 . Please contact either Scott
th
systems would be devastating. impact on us or are vital to our survival. Bahan at 515-5371 (sbahan@blm.gov)
“If insects were gone, you would Over 80 percent of the worlds 94 major or Barb Jorgensen at 563-1555
break a large part of the terrestrial food food crops are pollinated by them, as are (fjorgensen@aol.com) if you would like
chain,” says Wilson. “A number of birds vast tracts of tropical rain forest. With- to lend a hand. —Barb Jorgensen

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