Conservation and Threats that Insects Face in the Neotropics

The Neotropics is a biodiversity rich area yet one of the most heavily threatened by several ongoing stressors that include fragmentation, deterioration and loss of natural and semi-natural habitats, agro-economic pressure, urbanization, pollution, and climate change. Insect biodiversity and its conservation are among the main global topics in conservation science and one of the major challenges for the present and coming generations in the Neotropics. The fact that these animals have been poorly studied or undescribed renders them less tractable than other groups to see how much under risk they are. This chapter sets the scene of what this book is about and briefly describes the contents, main achievements, and further directions of each contribution. The book provides the first assessment of actual stressors, patterns, processes, and/or consequences of insect decline and conservation in the Neotropics. We also outline some key topics for insect conservation on a regional and local scales: a country-based insect regulation agenda, standardized monitoring schemes to assess insect conservation status, citizen science approaches for gathering robust data on insect identity and abundance, and climate change effects.