Reflections

It's worse than the story of Monarch butterflies. An article appearing across online media the last few days reports that 41 percent of ALL insect species are in decline, 31 percent are 'threatened' and that insect populations are declining 8 times faster than human or animal species. Summer insect populations declined 82 percent in the 27 years of the study conducted by Radboud University in the Netherlands. Bottom line: it could be first signs of a 6th planet-wide mass extinction.  Honey bees alone in the US have dropped from 6 million colonies to 2.5 since 1947. Insect activity is a major factor in the pollination that aids plant and food production. Bottom line: we could be in the throes of an "ecological Armaggedon" and life as we know it could go the way of the proverbial DoDo bird. Loss of habitat due to urban encroachment and climate change are at the heart of the problem. We cannot save the world as gardeners, but we can save our tiny piece of it by creating wildlife friendly safe havens. That doesn't mean just letting the deer run amuck. It means keeping an eye out for those tiny creatures underfoot who are not insignificant at all.