Titled: ‘This is the way the world ends; not with a bang but a whimper’, an alarming new study published in December 2024 in the academic journal ‘Extinction’, points to the compelling nature of our work at PlantingSeeds which supports pollinators and particularly invertebrates.
PlantingSeeds’ B&B Highway and its other vital programs strive to help many of our unsung biodiversity heroes at a time when very few organisations are banging the drum about the critical loss of invertebrates.
Many are aware of bee loss but do not appreciate invertebrates’ and other pollinators’ roles in ecosystem health, soil and water vitality and connections to food supplies.
The ‘Extinction’ article finds that Australia’s extinction tally is far greater than previously recognised and that between 1 to 3 species of insects and other native invertebrates like worms, snails and spiders, are becoming extinct in Australia every week. About 9000 have become extinct since European arrival in 1788.
PlantingSeeds joins with the Biodiversity Council and Invertebrates Australia to press for federal state and territory governments to increase work to understand, monitor and conserve Australia’s invertebrates.
The authors say that the high prediction of 39 to 148 species becoming extinct over the last year is inconsistent with a recent pledge by the Australian government to prevent all extinctions.
The academic study was undertaken by a national team of 10 scientists from universities, museums and state governments, and was led by Biodiversity Council member Professor John Woinarski from Charles Darwin University.
According to Prof Woinarski, the study estimated the number of non-marine Australian invertebrate species — those without a backbone, like worms, beetles, bees and butterflies — that have become extinct since Europeans arrived in 1788.
‘We found that 9,111 species are likely to have become extinct in those 236 years. Allowing for uncertainties and knowledge gaps, our analysis indicates that the true number is at least 1500 species and possibly up to 60,000 extinctions.
‘This matters to every person as invertebrates are the foundation of all healthy environments and a livable planet. Invertebrates provide myriad essential functions that people depend on like pollinating crops and breaking down organic matter.
‘As we lose invertebrates, the health of our crops, waterways, forests and even local parks and backyard gardens will decline.
‘Only one of these extinctions has been formally recognised under Australian environmental legislation, that of the Lake Pedder earthworm. Most of the species became extinct before they were even described and named by scientists: the study calls these “ghost extinctions”.
‘Despite their incredible importance there has been a long running bias against invertebrates, with little funding available for their research and conservation.’
Co-author Dr Jess Marsh from the University of Adelaide is a member of the Biodiversity Council and Invertebrates Australia.
‘Thousands of invertebrate species remain at high risk of extinction,’ said Dr Marsh, ‘But we don’t have to accept their losses as inevitable. There is a lot we can do to prevent extinctions, including by protecting important habitats and reducing threats, such as pesticide use.
‘We urge home gardeners to think carefully about reducing their pesticide use. Using pesticide in your garden often kills the beneficial invertebrates your garden needs like bees and flies that pollinate, lady beetles that help control aphids and worms that improve your soil.
‘Many invertebrate species have already lost a huge amount of habitat and ongoing habitat loss remains a major threat.’