Reacción a "Reactions to an analysis of the causes of insect decline in Europe"

The article addresses a complex problem, due to the large number of factors that control insect populations, which – let us remember – are important as an economic threat to certain human activities, but, above all, due to their decisive involvement in ecosystem services such as pollination. , the biological control of pests and diseases, and nutrient cycling, without forgetting that they are part of the food consumed by many other organisms. Its positive effect on our activities is much greater than the negative.

On the decline of insects and its implications for humanity, a lot of scientific literature has been produced so far, to such an extent that the objective proposed by the work in question (Introduction, line 11 "Guide relevant policies") has already been achieved. to effect in the European Union, approving the Biodiversity and Farm to Fork strategies, which propose a 50% reduction in the use of pesticides and the restoration of 20% of terrestrial ecosystems before 2030, to alleviate biodiversity problems related to climate change.

The authors obtain, however, as a fundamental conclusion that anthropogenic activities have a greater effect on the decline in the abundance of carabid and lepidopteran populations, while the use of pesticides has a lesser effect on the general decline of both. groups.

In the first place, the use of pesticides is an anthropogenic activity, so this last category should be defined more precisely or, better, changed by the different activities that compose it.

Secondly, it is hardly credible that the use of pesticides, including insecticides, has such a low level of effect on the populations of these organisms, especially butterflies that, throughout their cycle, are highly exposed to these applications. This fact may be due to the fact that herbicides and/or fungicides are also included in the pesticide category, with a much lower direct effect on insects.

For all these reasons, as indicated by some related articles in the bibliography of the article: it is obvious that more detailed studies are needed on the different variables that control the survival of insects in general, at different scales, with different taxa and geographical locations (Dornelas and Daskalova 2020), but without ceasing to act on the most well-known and direct factors that influence insect populations (Forister et al. 2019) and that are already included in European legislation: the maintenance of natural habitats where insects can perpetuate themselves. (EU Nature Restoration Law) and the reduction of insecticides released into the environment (Biodiversity and Table for Fork strategies of the EU).