Title : Swarms of moths might reveal new details on climate change
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Swarms of moths might reveal new details on climate change
- A team of scientists discovered a swarm of ancient moths in a lake in Quebec
- Scientists say the swarm can be used to discover past moth outbreaks and study what the effects might be on the forest landscape, as well as climate change
- A five-meter-long core of sediment was found, dating back 10,000 years ago
- Lake sediment is considered the 'hard drive' of nature, recording data over time
For many years, we've known that extreme weather, hotter temperatures and rising ocean levels are the telltale signs of climate change.
Now, scientists believe that swarms of moths may be an indicator of what's to come on Earth in the near future.
A massive sample of moth scales, preserved in the mud of a lake in Quebec, are being used to track outbreaks of these insects over the past 10,000 years, according to a new study published Friday in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
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Scientists from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences uncovered a massive swarm of ancient months floating on the surface of a boreal lake north of Lake-Saint-Jean in Quebec
Scientists believe that past insect outbreaks could be linked to the presence and progress of climate change.
'This is an exciting discovery, which will greatly increase our knowledge of prehistoric forest ecosystems,' said Dr Miguel Montoro Girona, who co-authored the study.
'It is comparable to the fossil pollen and charcoal markers in sediments, which revolutionized prehistoric research to provide information on plants, climate and forest fires going back thousands of years'
'Our new method can be applied to many ecosystems where moths and butterflies have a marked influence on the landscape,' he added.
Most paleological studies look at the ways that wildfires can act as an 'agent of disturbance' on ecosystems.
But the scientists believe that moth fossils, in this case spruce budworm moths, can offer a new approach for interpreting past insect-related disturbances and how they impact the climate.
The scientists studied the spruce budworm moths under a microscope to gain greater insight into their wing shapes. They added that the wings are 'very thin and delicate'
'Insect outbreaks are one of the most influential factors that shape forest diversity,' the study notes.
Moths are able to stand the test of time due to their chitin composition, a fibrous substance that comprises their exoskeleton.
As a result, the moths remained well-preserved throughout a 10,000 year sediment record.
The scientists took samples of the moths from a five-meter-long core of sediment in the lake.
Lake sediment is often referred to as a natural 'hard drive' because it's able to record the environmental conditions and events that effect the surrounding landscape over time.
Millions of spruce budworm moths were collected from sediment in a lake in Quebec
WHAT ARE SPRUCE BUDWORM MOTHS?
Spruce budworms are a type of moth that dates back as far as 1869
They're considered 'serious pests' of conifer trees and can be found throughout most of the United States, Canada and some parts of Eurasia
The eastern spruce budworm has been called one of the most destructive insects of fir and spruce forests throughout Canada and the eastern U.S.
Farmers and pest control experts have been able to reign them in using chemical control
The spruce budworm (pictured) is found in the US, Canada and some parts of Eurasia
Birds also help control populations of the eastern spruce budworm to prevent outbreaks
In 2017, more than 7 million hectares of boreal forest in Eastern Canada were destroyed by the spruce budworm
At the time, many scientists expected the outbreak to head south
Defoliation by moths was also found to increase the risk of forest fires
Until now, scientists tracked forest insect dynamics by analyzing fossilized insects' feces or by collecting insect heads recovered from peat moss.
They found these collection methods to be unreliable at times, however.
The scientists said the adult moth wings were easy to recover, despite being very thin and delicate.
Many of the moth wings were broken, folded or covered by other material, they added.
The moths were preserved in lake sediment, which scientists often refer to as nature's 'hard drive,' recording data over time
'Nonetheless, we could still confirm that peaks of identified fossil scales corresponded to periods of insect outbreak,' the scientists said.
Before this study, there was very little knowledge about the 'frequency and severity' of spruce budworm outbreaks and how they relate to our climate.
When temperatures spike and drop, it can affect organisms' survival, reproduction cycles and spatial dispersion, the study notes.
'It is critical to understand the links between past spruce budworm outbreaks and climate to as to understand the potential of spruce budworm outbreaks under future climate change scenarios,' the study continues.
The scientists said that collecting more data on moth outbreak cycles will help them improve forecasts of future ecological scenarios, should climate change worsen.
'Analysis of wing scales could improve our knowledge of the abundance and distribution (e.g., migration, range shifts) of these species, and provide an understanding of how moths reacted to past environmental change, to better discern their future vulnerability to extinction,' the scientists added.
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