InsectGapMap - Where Are The Research Gaps?

Why are insect important?

There are about 1 million identified insect species, and its likely that there are millions more yet unidentified. insects are the most abundant and diverse of all taxon. 

Orchid Mantis

Insects are in many ways the backbone of terrestrial life: 

• They pollinate flowers and trees which provide fruits and foliage as feed for larger organisms, as well as, being feed themselves for many birds, spiders, and even some plants.

• Some control other insect populations which prevents ecosystem and agriculture damage.

• They break down decomposing animals and plants which prevents a build-up.

• In many cultures, insects are a form of sustenance. 

Gaps in insect research

Earlier this week I joined Thomas Nillson who is the programs director for Mistra, a Swedish independent research foundation.
Thomas hosted the event for the following one researcher and three experts to speak:

 

• Neal Haddaway - Main researcher

• Marie Stenseke - Social science expert

• Magnus Land - Senior analyst for Formas

• Per Sjögren Gulve - Principle research officer for the Swedish environmental protection agency

The researcher discussed the new project InsectGapMap which maps the knowledge of insect research and allows researchers and experts to identify areas that haven't yet been researched. The three experts critiqued the project.
InsectGapMap is based on the EntoGEM project which maps insects populations and biodiversity trends.

Their methods of mapping the research is separated into 3 parts:

• Review of reviews - mapping of all research literature reviews on the topic

• Build ontology - map of insect conservation actions

• Topic modelling - using titles and abstracts from many literature to map what areas have been highly studied and which have been poorly studied

A rusty patched bumblebee collects pollen and nectar from a flower. (Image credit: Dan Mullen, <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8583446@N05/">via Flickr</a>, Creative Commons license)

The set of computer model used continually improves as more information is put into it, allowing it to continually learn and improve as time progresses.

The InsectGapMap was able to identify many things:

• The United States and United Kingdom are the countries with the highest amount of conservation actions for insects.

• The most abundant conservation action by far is Land/Water management,. However, education & awareness, and law & policy were both near zero in conservation efforts.

• Vast majority of Land/Water Management conservation action was in pesticide contamination, and no conservation actions had been taken for food resources, nesting, and waterflow and levels in freshwater systems, among others. 

• A large skew in insect orders being studied. Lepidoptera (Butterflies and moths) and Coleoptera (Beetles) were very heavily studied, and 8 out of the 22 orders examined had no research at all.

Further information can be found in the full public access downloadable report, here. Or you can see the shortened version of results, here. 

Criticisms were predominantly positive, with the majority of negative criticism being from Marie. Marie's criticisms were, in my opinion, harsh and biased.

Certain criticism aspects such as, how the data might be used in policy, and how the public might react, were valid. However, there seemed to be a distaste for insects and for the field. 

Conclusion

Using computer models in InsectGapMap to map literature and conservation efforts can be very insightful into how we choose what research to conduct and how we can best progress the scientific field. 

There are large outliers and clear favouritism when it comes to funding for research and conservation. insects are vital to this planets health, and so we should address these issues if we wish to maintain healthy ecosystems and rich biodiversity.   

Student Reflection

Despite some negative criticism, I found the projects results to be insightful and believe the project can be beneficial to conservation. The project is of course not without error, however it shows trends that we can learn from. I am not a huge fan of insects but I liked their method of looking at the broader picture.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are my own. Images and videos used on this blog are not my own and all rights go to the original owners. This blog and contents are for educational purposes. If you have a copyright issue please contact me via email on author profile.