It appears that human-caused deforestation may have a great impact on rapid insect evolution. Specifically, it has deprived the insects of their flying ability.
According to a ScienceAlert report, people in New Zealand have cut down lots of trees and as a result, some native insects have lost their wings.
Humans, in the space of 750 years, have changed the natural landscape so much, of the South Island of the country and scientists said, it's causing rapid insect evolution, at least among some species of them.
Now with no more alpine forest to break the winds in the mountaintop, at least a single insect type is said to be already transitioning out of the flight industry.
'Zelandoperla fenestrate'
This insect species, as described in Scientific Reports is a stonefly that has two unique phenotypes. One phenotype that has wings capable of flying, and the other, with stunted wings or none at all, is described as flightless.
The stonefly that doesn't have the ability to fly typically exists in higher altitudes, where there is a scarcity of trees and strong winds can thus simply bow a flying insect out into the abyss.
In the meantime, the flies that have the ability to fly are usually sheltered in alpine forests, where there is a need for insects to explore the habitat's full extent.
Nevertheless, in regions where alpine forests have been cut down, scientists have noticed something intriguing. The insects, at this particular elevation, which should typically be able to fly, cannot do so.
Apparently, as mentioned, human-caused deforestation has indirectly deprived such insects of their ability to fly, and humans hid so, for a short time, in terms of evolution.
Burning of Native Forest
Essentially, extensive burning of native forests began shortly after the arrival of the Māori sometime after 1200 CE, and by now, over 40 percent of the forests that once covered the South Island of New Zealand have been transformed into fern-shrubland and grassland.
Although this was the last main landmass to be developed by humans, the evolutionary impact on local wildlife is already being seen. This now-flightless stonefly is possibly just the tip of the iceberg.
In the study, Anthropogenic evolution in an insect wing polymorphism following widespread deforestation, published in Biology Letters, the researchers wrote that on top of the local shifts inferred in their work, widespread deforestation may have augmented the flightless lineages' population throughout New Zealand's large areas.
More so, the team expressed apprehension that minus their wings, stoneflies wouldn't be able to search for mates in a greater range of territories, thereby increasing genetic diversity. This could plausibly affect the health of the species in the long run, as well as the risk of extinction of the insect.
According to the study investigators, in a rapidly changing world where there are so many insects that die out, that apprehension is not baseless. By eliminating the forest that formerly sheltered stoneflies, the way the wind blows, has been changed.
A similar ChopNews report said, the study authors have admitted that perhaps, there are factors other than the wind that are making insect flight unattractive on an open mountaintop.
Such factors may include habitation stability and temperature, although they contended that these powerful gusts are the most protruding feature of the mountaintops of New Zealand.
Related information about declining insect population is shown on The Real News Network's YouTube video below:
RELATED ARTICLE : Insects from All Over the Globe are Vanishing at Alarming Rates ---But it isn't too Late
Check out more news and information on Endangered Animals on Science Times.
