Causes of Concern: The Main Threats to Insects

The major—and most obvious—drivers of insect decline flow from anthropogenic activities whereby the condition of most terrestrial and inland water ecosystems is changed. Loss and degradation of habitats is the universal over-riding concern, with major land transformations from urbanisation, agricultural conversion, and forestry. Additional threats are associated with pollution, invasive species, and exploitation. All are difficult to evaluate and all are also overlain by the impacts of continuing climate change. Understanding these interacting drivers and preventing or countering their impacts is a key theme in insect conservation. This chapter briefly introduces the variety of threats to insect life, and how they may be considered in practical conservation.