Think twice before you swat a fly or squash a bug: A new study says insects contribute more than $57 billion (euro47 billion) a year to the U.S. economy.
Think twice before you swat a fly or squash a bug: A new study says insects contribute more than $57 billion (euro47 billion) a year to the U.S. economy.
And that is a very conservative estimate, said John Losey, a Cornell University associate professor of entomology who conducted the study, published in the current issue of the journal BioScience.
"Most insects tirelessly perform functions that improve our environment and lives in ways that scientists are only beginning to understand,‘‘ said Losey, who wrote the study with Mace Vaughan of the Portland, Oregon-based Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
There are more than 1 million named insect species _ and probably an equal number unidentified _ making them the most abundant life form on the planet.
The study focused on four particular services that bugs provide, and what the cost would be if the insects were gone:
Nutrition for wildlife. The researchers looked at how much is spent annually on observing or hunting wildlife, and how much these animals depend on insects for food. Value: $50 billion (euro41.3 billion).
Pest control. Insects often prey on other insects. The researchers looked at the amount of damage done by pests, and the losses that would result if their predators disappeared. Value: $4.5 billion (euro3.7 billion).
Pollination. The researchers looked at the value of crops that are insect-pollinated (not including crops pollinated by domesticated honeybees). Value: $3 billion (euro2.5 billion).
Dung burial. If not for dung beetles, manure on grazing land would attract more flies and parasites that farmers would have to control. Also, dung beetles help return nutrients to the soil. Without them, farmers would have to spend more on fertilizer. Value: $380 million (euro314 million).
The study focused only on wild insects and did not count the value of commercially produced insect-derived products, such as honey and silk.
Lawrence Abrahamson, an entomologist at the State University of New York, agreed the $57 billion (euro47 billion) figure is conservative.
"Most people think of insects and go yuck. They think about mosquitoes and flies. They don‘t realize just about everything in life is affected some way, somehow, by insects,‘‘ he said.
當你揮動蒼蠅拍想要打死一隻蒼蠅或臭蟲時，最好三思而後行。因爲一項最新的研究結果顯示，昆蟲每年給美國經濟帶來的貢獻竟然超過了570億美元之多。
據美聯社日前報道，這項研究的負責人、美國科內爾大學的昆蟲學副教授約翰·羅賽對此表示，不僅如此，而且上述數字還是一個非常保守的估計。他說：“大部分昆蟲都在不知疲倦地行使着改善人們生活環境的職責，而它們所用的這些方式科學家們纔剛剛開始瞭解。”
目前，有超過100萬種已命名的昆蟲種類，而且可能還有相同數量的未經確認的昆蟲，這使它們成爲地球上生活方式最爲豐富多彩的物種。
諸多好處 一一列舉
此項研究將重點放在了昆蟲向人們提供的4種特殊服務以及如果這些小蟲消失不見，人們在這些方面應該相應付出的花費上。
1、野生動物的營養。研究人員對美國每年觀察或捕獵野生動物花費多少，以及這些動物中有多少以昆蟲作爲食物進行了研究。研究得出的結論是，昆蟲對美國經濟的貢獻價值爲500億美元。
2、控制害蟲。昆蟲經常以其它昆蟲爲食。因此，研究人員對害蟲造成的危害以及如果這些害蟲的天敵消失，美國將要爲此遭受的損失進行了分析研究。研究得出的結果是，昆蟲對美國經濟的貢獻價值爲45億美元。
3、授粉。研究人員還對那些由昆蟲授粉的農作物(不包括那些由馴化蜜蜂授粉的農作物)的`價值進行了估算。並由此得出結論，昆蟲對美國經濟的貢獻價值爲25億美元。
4、消化糞便。如果不是蜣螂(屎克螂)這種小昆蟲在幫忙，那麼在土地上施肥就會吸引更多的蒼蠅和寄生蟲，這樣農民們就不得不想辦法來解決這個問題。另外，屎克螂還有助於將營養物質重新輸送回土壤。如果沒有它們，辛勤勞作的農民們就要花費更多的錢來購買肥料。由此，研究人員得出的結論是，在這方面昆蟲對美國經濟的貢獻價值爲3.8億美元。
報道說，此項研究的對象僅僅爲野生昆蟲爲美國社會創造的財富，並不包括諸如蜂蜜和絲綢等由昆蟲帶來的商業產品的價值。這項研究的具體結果發表在最近一期的《生物科學》雜誌上。
