Insects are known to be the most widely spread and numerous of all species of animals living on our planet. The number of insects in the world exceeds the number of all the other species taken together. Insects live in all kinds of terrestrial environments and can be found in almost any climate zone.
This way, the impacts insects make on human life are immense and very important. Kellert mentions that the influence insects have on the life of people and other animals can be evaluated from a variety of perspectives such as scientific, aesthetic, naturalistic, negativistic and moralistic (par. 9). This paper is focused on exploring the influences created by the insects from the ecologic point of view.
Insects perform several natural functions that enable important ecological processes. Among these functions are scavenging, decomposing, consumption, predation and parasitism, and pollination. When the insects consume and decompose their food, they become a crucial link in the biochemical cycle of nutrients (A Class of Distinction 2).
Living in the soil and building homes for their colonies insects help to distribute air to the soil, which provides better conditions for the development of plants as the burrowing around the root zones delivers nutrients there. Besides, insects such as dung beetles increase the speed of decomposition of the manure of large animals such as cattle.
Decomposing the manure the insects help to spread the nutrients it contains into the ground and fertilize it. Many cattle breeders all around the world intentionally populate their pasturelands with dung beetles because large herds of cattle leave a lot of manure, which makes these areas unsuitable for the livestock over time.
The pollinating function of insects is one of the most well known. Flowering plants are the supporters of a variety of large ecosystems, although these plants’ capacity to reproduce directly depends on the pollination done by the insects. Pollen produced by the male plants is carried by the insects and distributed to the female plants fertilizing them.
Not many know that the odors and bright colors of the flowers are the features that evolved fulfilling the need of flowering plants to attract insects. Some flowers have developed their appearances specifically to attract only certain types of insects. This way, the reduction of the number of pollinating insects will lead to the decline of productivity of flowering plants, which support thousands of other species of insects, animals, and birds.
Parasitism and predation are often viewed as counterproductive functions, although this opinion is incorrect. Parasitism and predation provide a balance between the species and prevent overpopulation and the exhaustion of natural resources (A Class of Distinction 2). Therefore, some of the species of insects play the role of biological control agents fighting pests and weeds. Evidence shows that human influences that ruin ecosystems serve as one of the most frequent causes of pest outbreaks (A Class of Distinction 2).
Humans also are responsible for the transportation of pests from one geographical area to another. Such transportations happen accidentally, yet they may carry dangerous outcomes because in their native lands the pests are subdued by their population regulators, whereas in the new areas they may undergo a population explosion and become lethal for other species.
When the influences produced by the insects are viewed from the ecologists perspective, butterfly effect seems like a perfect description. Driving one species towards total extinction, we never know what kind of consequences may follow.
Works Cited
A Class of Distinction.Cals.ncu.edu. 2007.
Kellert, Steve. Values and Perceptions. 2011. Web.