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  • BBC Science Focus Magazine

    THE INSECT APOCALYPSE

    Oct 06, 2021 6 minutes

    WHY ARE INSECTS IMPORTANT, AND WHAT ROLES DO THEY PLAY IN THE ECOSYSTEM?

    So many, it’s hard to know where to start. Insects make up the bulk of life on Earth in terms of biodiversity. More than two-thirds of all species that we’ve identified are insects. Birds, other insects, bats, lots of small mammals, lizards and freshwater fish all depend on insects for food. If the insects weren’t there, then they wouldn’t be there.

    But insects do a whole bunch of other important stuff too. Scientists call it ‘ecosystem services’, which is a bit of an unhelpful phrase. It’s things like recycling, so maggots help to get rid of dead bodies, dung beetles help to get rid of cowpats, and other insects help to break down dead trees and leaves and other things. So they’re really important in nutrient cycles. They keep the soil healthy. They move seeds around. They do all sorts of stuff.

    I guess the thing that most people recognise is that insects pollinate. So roughly 87 per cent of all the plant species on the planet need pollinating by some kind of animal – occasionally, in the

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