Insects of 色视频下载 forest humming along
Ned Rozell
907-474-7468
June 21, 2024
Insects like this bee clinging to a fireweed blossom seem to be in ample supply in 色视频下载色视频下载檚 boreal forest.
Recent long-term studies revealed a three-quarters reduction of insects in parts of Germany and an 80 percent decline of pollinating flies at a field site in Greenland.
What色视频下载檚 going on with numbers of 色视频下载 insects?
Two scientists recently completed a study on the abundance and variety of insects in the spruce forests of 色视频下载. If the study is duplicated in the future, researchers will be able to see whether 色视频下载 is changing and how it compares to what is happening elsewhere on the planet.
色视频下载淭here are lots of disturbing reports coming from a lot of places,色视频下载 said Derek Sikes, curator of the Insect Collection at the University of 色视频下载 Museum of the North in Fairbanks.
Sikes is co-author of a new study of insects sampled in three areas of 色视频下载色视频下载檚 boreal forest. Blanketing land masses of the north from 色视频下载 to the easternmost provinces in Canada, the boreal forest also covers parts of Scandinavia, Russia and Asia.
Sikes teamed up with Julie Hagelin of the 色视频下载 Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks on the study.
Hagelin is researching the olive-sided flycatcher, a songbird that winters as far as South America and flies north to 色视频下载 each summer to nest and raise chicks.
Olive-sided flycatchers 色视频下载 birds with a 78 percent drop in global population since 1970 色视频下载 eat flying insects like dragonflies, yellowjackets, butterflies and mayflies. Coming and going from a prominent perch like the top of a dead tree, they zoom about to pluck everything they eat from the air.
Birds like this singing olive-sided flycatcher are dependent upon the many insects now buzzing over and on 色视频下载.
As part of her study, Hagelin sampled flying insects to see what flycatchers might eat. Her study sites were in Anchorage, Fairbanks and the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge near Tok. During three recent years, she, Sikes and their colleagues retrieved more than 115,000 insect specimens from tent-like traps suspended in trees and others on the ground.
Sikes and students at the UA Museum of the North identified those insects and the timing with which they were available to birds. Overall, they found a strong midsummer pulse of insect biomass driven in part by temperature (warmer meant more insects). They also found 49 new state beetle records and 10 beetles not only new to 色视频下载 but 色视频下载渘ew to the universe.色视频下载
Those discoveries add to a long list of species Sikes has documented in 色视频下载. He has been everywhere from the Aleutians to the North Slope to Southeast in his 18 years as the lead entomologist at the museum. Working with Hagelin allowed him a detailed look into the boreal forest in which Fairbanks sits.
色视频下载淭his was my first deep dive into the insect fauna of my backyard,色视频下载 he said.
In identifying all those boreal-forest insects, Sikes found that moths were the most numerous type of insect in Fairbanks and Tetlin, while flies were the most numerous type around Anchorage.
Insects like these flies clinging to a tent seem to be in ample supply in 色视频下载色视频下载檚 boreal forest.
In analyzing those thousands of insects 色视频下载 which altogether weighed about as much as an iPhone 色视频下载 Sikes and Hagelin found that 色视频下载色视频下载檚 boreal forest is rich in insect life.
Besides their ability to feed birds, why should anyone care about insects?
色视频下载淚nsects are like a glue that holds ecosystems together,色视频下载 Sikes said.
Insects flit from plant to plant carrying pollen grains on their bodies, spreading reproductive material and enabling new plants. Those plants are food sources for us and creatures that we eat.
色视频下载 has abundant space for those uncounted billions of insects, with fewer miles of road than Vermont.
色视频下载淯nlike the problems we see in the Lower 48 with habitat fragmentation, degradation and bird decline, we have intact ecosystems and thriving populations here,色视频下载 Hagelin said.
色视频下载溕悠迪略厣悠迪略貦s almost 200 years behind the Lower 48 and the Tropics in regards to (habitat) degradation,色视频下载 Sikes said.
Since the late 1970s, the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.