Natural disasters can kill insects and invertebrates

New research shows that natural disasters can have a significant impact on the abundance and diversity of insects and invertebrates.

When researchers surveyed insects and invertebrates nine months after the flood occurred in southern Oklahoma in 2015, they measured the level of species reduction to 93%. The researchers also measured a significant decline in the presence, biomass and diversity of some of these species.

The researcher led Karl A. Roeder, a doctoral student at the University of Oklahoma and his colleagues were very concerned about the recovery of invertebrate communities after disasters such as historic flooding. . Like most food chains and ecosystems, countless smaller species play a different role - whether they are factors in the food chain or the objects that build ecosystems.

If some insects and invertebrates cannot be recreated after a disaster, an ecosystem can be permanently changed.

Roeder said: "If these species cannot perform their functions like helping to decompose, or pollinate, ecosystems may encounter difficulties in conservation and development in some countries."

The results of the new study were published in the journal Environmental Entomology.

Nine months after the flood, scientists returned to survey the same land that had lost several months under water. They found that only 3 of the 14 ants were present, the ono and soft ants did not return .

Roeder said: "We found a dead vegetation in the observation area however, benthic species, such as bass, often break down degraded vegetation. This change may have Important consequences for the existence of amphibians, mammals and reptiles, groups of invertebrates even promote migratory birds. "

Researchers hope that further research will shed light on how the insect and invertebrate communities grow as plants regenerate and land recovers from the effects of drag-and-drop disasters. long.