The decline of the endemic species of ants in the Fiyi archipelago shows signs of an “insect apocalypse”a decline that coincides, as the researchers have verified, with the arrival of humans to the islands.
From the pollination of flowers to decomposition and support for nutrient cycles, abundance and Biodiversity Insects are crucial to maintain healthy ecosystems, but recent studies show population declines that have warned about how insects adapt to the modern world.
This has been verified by researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, in Japanthat today publish the result of their work in the Science Magazine.
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The scientists used a community genomics approach to explore ants populations in the Fiyi archipelago as a model system to understand the trends of insect biodiversity, and thanks to the collections existing in the museums were able to track the evolutionary relationships of the ants to explore their arrival at the islands and reconstruct the population history of the species.
The finding, as the researchers have pointed out, is “alarming”, since 79 percent of Fiyi’s endemic species are in decline, in a period that also correlates with the arrival of humans to the islands.
Meanwhile, ants recently introduced by humans are experiencing explosive growth in their population.
Researchers have proven that the greatest proportion of declines seems to have occurred in recent centuries, coinciding with European contact, colonization, global trade and the introduction of modern agricultural techniques.