Naturally Kiawah Magazine Volume 41 | Page 55

What do we know? As one can imagine, observing and quantifying insect population data can be challenging. Although some larger insects such as butterflies and bees can more easily be counted, it is not efficient to count tiny insects. Instead, in some studies, researchers collect flying insects by using nets on moving vehicles and then calculate them by their total weight, or biomass, rather than by total quantity. A 27-year study in Germany notes a 76 percent decline in flying insect biomass. Worldwide, the insect biomass decline is eight times faster than the biomass decline for mammals. This means that eight pounds of insects are dying for every pound of mammals that die. Shockingly, 40 percent of the world’s insect species are threatened with extinction. The news in the United States is not good either. The monarch butterfly population, a migrating insect is a good example. From 2017 to 2018, the West Coast monarch butterfly population was down 86 percent. That’s an 86 percent decline in one year! According to the article "The Insect Apocalypse is Here," published in the New York Times, the Western monarch butterfly community is down 99.4 percent, a 900 million decrease in population since the 1980s. Estimates put the current population at 30,000. Many scientists fear that one more bad year could lead to the extinction of the West Coast monarch butterflies which winter in Southern California. WINTER/SPRING 2019 • VOLUME 41 Monarch butterflies on Kiawah, which are from the Eastern population, spending summers east of the Rockies, and winter in Mexico, have also been experiencing a similar downward trend with one exception. Data from 2017 to 2018 shows an aberration. Eastern monarch butterfly populations experienced a 144 percent increase. This positive news is attributed to exceptionally good weather conditions during breeding season as well as a concerted effort to protect native habitat along the monarch butterfly migration path. Although this data is encouraging, scientists do not believe that one good year is enough to reverse the downward trend of the Eastern monarch butterfly. Although they can’t control weather conditions, they hope that through education, essential habitat areas can continue to be preserved and restored in the future to help reverse the trend. What is causing this catastrophe? Humans are, and here is how. We are destroying habitat through aggressive growth, deforestation, and poorly planned development. One study reports that rainforests in Puerto Rico have lost between 78 percent to 98 percent of their insect population. Many communities experiencing rapid new growth have drained wetlands and modified flood plains. During the 1990s in the Midwest, millions of acres of wetlands near the Mississippi River Basin were plowed under and built upon, and of course, eventually flooded. It does not 53