• • Continue to engage scientists, like
the Town of Kiawah Island wildlife
biologists, to carefully monitor
insects, wildlife, water quality, and
habitat.
• • Avoid using outdoor lighting.
• • Use screen porches instead of
chemicals to provide mosquito
and insect-free areas for outdoor
enjoyment.
• • Participate in or support Citizen
Science projects, such as those
monitoring butterflies and other
pollinators—www.xerces.org/citizen-
science.
percent of our crops, spin silk, make
honey, help with the decomposition
of dead stuff, help disperse seeds, and
even have some medicinal uses. Many
animals, such as bats, birds, frogs,
lizards, and some marine wildlife
depend upon insects in their diet.
Without insects, it is likely that our
entire ecosystem would collapse. Some
scientists believe that within 50 years
if insects are still around, they will
become a significant part of the human
diet. Fortunately for me, I won’t be here
to verify that.
Although I have yet to meet a person
who comes to Kiawah for the bugs,
without insects, we wouldn’t have our
lush flora and abundant wildlife. Insects
have been on Earth for over 350 million
years. It isn’t too late to reverse the
devastating insect population trends.
We can do it, and you can help. NK
Kotz
The Kiawah Conservancy, the Town
of Kiawah Island, and the Kiawah
Island Community Association engage
in multiple research projects to monitor
the health of Island habitat and wildlife.
One current project is studying
invertebrates (many invertebrates
are insects) at the edge of the dunes
along the beach. Careful research and
an environmentally-friendly master
plan before initial development on
Kiawah in the 1970s have allowed
Kiawah to maintain a healthy, balanced
ecosystem.
A commitment to nature
preservation has been the foundation
of Kiawah from its initial stages of
development. In addition to new homes
on Kiawah needing building approval,
all new landscape plans have to meet
the high standards of preserving and
enhancing native habitat. Consequently,
Kiawah has one of the healthiest
ecosystems of a developed coastal
community on the east coast.
Insects are the foundation of our
ecosystem and are primarily responsible
for its stability. They pollinate 75
Scientists have identified: 91 thousand different species of bugs in the United States; 1.5 million different species worldwide,
They believe that the actual numbers are two to four times those amounts.
WINTER/SPRING 2019 • VOLUME 41
55