Insects play crucial roles in almost every ecosystem—they pollinate more than 80% of plants and are a major source of food for thousands of vertebrate species—but insect populations are collapsing around the globe, and they continue to be overlooked by conservation efforts. Protected areas can safeguard threatened species but only if these threatened species actually live within the areas we protect. A new study publishing on February 1 in the journal One Earth found that 76% of insect species are not adequately covered by protected areas.
"It's high time we considered insects in conservation assessments," says lead author Shawan Chowdhury, a conservation biologist at the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). "Countries must include insects in protected area planning and when managing the existing ones."
Although protected areas are known to actively shield many vertebrate species from key anthropogenic threats, the extent to which this is true for insects remains largely unknown. To determine what proportion of insect species are protected by protected areas, Chowdhury and colleagues overlaid species distribution data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility with global maps of protected areas.
Protected areas fail to safeguard more than 75% of global insect species, finds study
"It's high time we considered insects in conservation assessments," says lead author Shawan Chowdhury, a conservation biologist at the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). "Countries must include insects in protected area planning and when managing the existing ones."
Although protected areas are known to actively shield many vertebrate species from key anthropogenic threats, the extent to which this is true for insects remains largely unknown. To determine what proportion of insect species are protected by protected areas, Chowdhury and colleagues overlaid species distribution data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility with global maps of protected areas.
Protected areas fail to safeguard more than 75% of global insect species, finds study