The United Nations has warned that 40% of invertebrate pollinators are at risk of extinction globally.
Kuyabeno:
Biologists walking trails in the Ecuadorian Amazon hold their breath as they hand out rancid delicacies to lure butterflies, important pollinators increasingly threatened by climate change. The team suspended 32 traps made of green netting and baited each with rotting fish and fermented bananas. They are intended to blend into the forest canopy. Their pungent odor is clearly not.
Since last August, a team of biologists and park rangers has been monitoring the butterfly population at the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, famous for its rich flora and fauna.
They catch and record colorful insects, most of which they release with identification marks on their wings. Some of them are probably of previously unknown species and are being kept for further study.
However, the results of the team’s work were disappointing.
Biologist María Fernanda Checa told AFP that butterflies are “bioindicators” – organisms whose health is a measure of the health of the surrounding ecosystem – and their numbers are declining. he said.
While the number of species may not have declined by more than 10 percent, in terms of absolute numbers of butterflies, “the decline is very significant, probably 40/50 percent,” she said.
“That’s a worrying situation for us.”
bioindicator
Under the direction of expedition leader Elisa Levy, the team checks the nets for captured butterflies.
They delicately grasp insects with their small abdomens and manipulate the legs and wings with tweezers.
Some are bright red or blue, while others resemble zebra stripes. Some are transparent, like glass.
About three-quarters of the crops that produce fruits and seeds for human consumption depend on pollinators, who provide billions of dollars worth of free services.
The United Nations has warned that 40% of invertebrate pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, are at risk of global extinction, posing a certain risk to humanity itself.
Butterflies are “very sensitive to small changes in their ecosystem” throughout their short lives, from egg to caterpillar to reproductive adult, Cheka said.
Levy explained that tropical plants, unlike plants in regions with distinct seasons, are not accustomed to extreme weather changes.
If these plants cannot adapt to a rapidly changing climate, they may be lost, along with the butterfly larvae that feed on them.
Although relatively small, Ecuador is highly biodiverse, with approximately 4,000 species of butterflies, about the same number as its much larger neighbors Peru and Colombia.
But in places like Yasuní National Park, which borders Cuyabeno, “the rate of species discovery is slower than the rate of extinction,” Checa says.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
