Скачать или смотреть The Changing Landscapes of Insect Conservation BY DR. JARET DANIELS, University of Florida

Recent insect declines have gained substantial media attention due to the potential serious repercussions for people, agriculture and ecological systems. Insects provide many essential services, including pollination and nutrient cycling and are a major food source for wildlife. Biodiversity conservation today is more than just large, wild systems. Every landscape now matters. The important role that our growing human-dominated spaces can play in sustaining native wildlife populations has become increasingly recognized in recent years as have efforts to incorporate a range of landscape types, including farms, energy and transportation rights-of-way—suburban yards and urban greenspaces into conservation planning. For this strategy to work, however, we must all participate and understand that the choices we make in our landscapes are relevant. While such spaces can never replace pristine, natural environments, they can provide important resources to supplement wildlife habitats and help reduce the sundry impacts of urbanization. A growing body of research supports the wildlife conservation benefit of these non-traditional lands. Private yards and home gardens collectively comprise the largest percentage of greenspace in most urban areas. Additionally, because more than 80% of Americans now live in cities and their surrounding suburbs, yards and gardens offer tremendous potential for each of us to have an impact. Studies have shown that including native plant species and increasing overall plant diversity help support a greater abundance and diversity of wildlife. Further efforts have focused on connecting these properties into a larger network of wildlife-friendly landscapes to improve organism dispersal, enhance valuable ecosystem services and provide new or increased opportunities for people to connect or reconnect with nature. By doing so, we can strive to establish heathier and sustainable spaces for humans and wildlife.