Scientists Imagine an Arctic - and a World - Without Mosquitoes
Anybody who has suffered an assault by swarms of mosquitoes in the Alaska Bush has wondered whether the world be a better place without them.
Nature.com put that question to mosquito scientists recently and, surprisingly, found that many believe there'd be no long-term downside if all biting mosquitoes were eradicated. For the most part, they say, other insects would fill the gap in the food chain.
Yet it's the Arctic, where for a brief period each spring mosquito clouds are denser than they are anywhere else on Earth, that might see the most dramatic ecological change if mosquitoes disappeared.
From Nature:
Views differ on what would happen if that [Arctic] biomass vanished. Bruce Harrison, an entomologist at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Winston-Salem, estimates that the number of migratory birds that nest in the tundra could drop by more than 50% without mosquitoes to eat. Other researchers disagree. Cathy Curby, a wildlife biologist at the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Fairbanks, says that Arctic mosquitoes don't show up in bird stomach samples in high numbers, and that midges are a more important source of food. "We (as humans) may overestimate the number of mosquitoes in the Arctic because they are selectively attracted to us," she says.
Certainly caribou would have an easier life. Each caribou can lose a cup or more of blood per day to mosquitoes during the swarming weeks. There have been reports of caribou choking to death in insect clouds.
Copyright: arcticle: Anchorage Daily News
Original article from: http://www.adn.com/2010/07/21/1376089/scientists-imagine-an-arctic-and.html
Forward this news message:Anybody who has suffered an assault by swarms of mosquitoes in the Alaska Bush has wondered whether the world be a better place without them.
Nature.com put that question to mosquito scientists recently and, surprisingly, found that many believe there'd be no long-term downside if all biting mosquitoes were eradicated. For the most part, they say, other insects would fill the gap in the food chain.
Yet it's the Arctic, where for a brief period each spring mosquito clouds are denser than they are anywhere else on Earth, that might see the most dramatic ecological change if mosquitoes disappeared.
From Nature:
Views differ on what would happen if that [Arctic] biomass vanished. Bruce Harrison, an entomologist at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Winston-Salem, estimates that the number of migratory birds that nest in the tundra could drop by more than 50% without mosquitoes to eat. Other researchers disagree. Cathy Curby, a wildlife biologist at the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Fairbanks, says that Arctic mosquitoes don't show up in bird stomach samples in high numbers, and that midges are a more important source of food. "We (as humans) may overestimate the number of mosquitoes in the Arctic because they are selectively attracted to us," she says.
Certainly caribou would have an easier life. Each caribou can lose a cup or more of blood per day to mosquitoes during the swarming weeks. There have been reports of caribou choking to death in insect clouds.
Copyright: arcticle: Anchorage Daily News
Original article from: http://www.adn.com/2010/07/21/1376089/scientists-imagine-an-arctic-and.html