Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Foottit, Robert G
• Adler, Peter H

Titel

The Importance of Insects

Ist Teil von

• Insect Biodiversity, 2017, p.9-43

Ort / Verlag

United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated

Erscheinungsjahr

2017

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Wiley Online Library All Obooks

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Insects are important because of their diversity, ecological role, and influence on agriculture, human health, and natural resources. This chapter documents the dominance of insects in the living world and shows how they have been central to many advances in science. Insects create the biological foundation for all terrestrial ecosystems. They cycle nutrients, pollinate plants, disperse seeds, maintain soil structure and fertility, control populations of other organisms, and provide a major food source for other taxa. Most major insect pests in agriculture are non‐native species that have been introduced into a new ecosystem, usually without their natural biological control agents. Insects have evolved unique features in the animal world that are a surprise to experts in biomechanics and bioengineering because many are recent inventions of humans. Insects have been in competition with humans for the products of our labor ever since cultivation of soil began.