What happens if mosquitoes are destroyed

I decided to write this article after reading the discussion in the comments on article (0) about genetically modified malaria mosquitoes. To be precise, this is a specific opinion:
The conclusion I made for myself: if you destroy these several types of mosquitoes (which bite a person), then nothing in the balance will change. And the frogs will remain, and the birds. A person will be a little bit, but happier.

Without claiming to be an exhaustive analysis of the situation on a planetary scale, I will try, within the limits of my modest knowledge, to assume what will happen with the hypothetical destruction of blood-sucking mosquitoes in the more or less familiar North of Eurasia, meaning the taiga and tundra belts under it. An important point: I am not an entomologist or a geochemist, therefore, in any case, the estimate will turn out to be fairly medium-ceilinged, and even according to the data obtained by fluent googling. But a rough estimate is still better than none, is it?

Let's try to evaluate the scale of the problem. In fact, there are not so many mass insects developing in water bodies in the North. In a good way, these are blood-sucking mosquitoes and chironomids, they are also mosquito bells: their larvae are familiar to fishermen and aquarists under the name of bloodworms. Everything else in bulk is losing by orders of magnitude. The mokret can also claim mass character - but it also develops just as well in raw litter, on a par with midges, well, and in terms of total biomass, mosquitoes still lose significantly.

Offhand from the disappearance of mosquitoes, I see three groups of consequences. These are consequences for the ecosystems of water bodies, for land plant communities, and for the fauna of vertebrates.

We will start with the reservoirs, but in front of them should be placed a brief, almost lyrical digression.

The foundation of classical ecology, almost like classical physics, is mass and energy. More precisely, biomass (mass of living things), the total mass of organic substances in the ecosystem, and the energy required to produce both. In this case, the energy, and it comes in the vast majority of cases from the Sun, being once used by photosynthetic plants for the production of organic matter, passes into the energy of chemical bonds and then in our case is generally not needed, since mosquitoes have not been noticed in photosynthesis yet. But biomass, organic matter and their transfer to us in the further analysis can be very useful. So.

I managed to find some data on the biomass of larvae for Yamal: from 0.5 to 50 grams per square meter of the reservoir. (1)

It should be noted that for mosquitoes, as for many insects, the nutrition of the larvae makes up the vast majority of the insect's total nutrition over the life cycle. This is not entirely true for bats, bugs, cockroaches - in general, for those whose adults (adults) lead a long, busy life: but mosquitoes do not belong to those. All major changes in mass, all major consumption of organic matter in mosquitoes occur in a reservoir at the larval stage. It is the larvae that are the most numerous among all age forms. Consequently, the most significant consequences for us will be associated with larvae. Let's take a closer look at them.

Again, according to very average estimates, an insect larva eats a quantity of food per day that is comparable to its own weight: unfortunately, I could not find data on the amount of food specifically for mosquito larvae. The larvae food contains detritus particles, bacteria, various unicellular algae, and components of various biological fouling of underwater substrates. (2) Simply put, any fine organic matter.

Oligotrophic reservoirs, and in the north they are almost all oligotrophic, have very low productivity (4): 0.1 - 0.3 grams of organics per square meter per day, i.e. 100 - 300 grams for the frost-free period. In general, of course, one must also take into account the flushing of organic matter from land. Based on these data, it can be assumed that the organics of the corresponding size class are not consumed by mosquito larvae in the amount of not the first tens of percent. About the same number under favorable conditions should be consumed by chironomid larvae, and there is nothing else as massive in the north as has already been noted. All organics of the appropriate size, not eaten by mosquito and chironomid larvae, are either consumed by a few plankton, or oxidized by oxygen dissolved in water, or carried out into the sea / deposited in silts and peat layers,

But with chironomids there are two problems. Firstly, chironomids are comparable in numbers with mosquitoes only in the tundra zone: in the forest-tundra, and even more so in the taiga, their number decreases markedly. Secondly, they are phenologically separated from mosquitoes: in chironomids, the peak of flight is one in a season, relatively early in spring. Mosquitoes take several generations during the summer, but begin to fly later. Simply put, chironomids are on average smaller, and they also have less impact on the ecosystem. In addition, due to a different phenology, they may not be suitable as a substitute feed resource: for example, for fish fry.

If we take very rough estimates of the amount of food consumed per unit weight, then in the maximum case of fifty grams of mosquito larvae per square meter, the mentioned larvae are eaten by the same square meter in the season to half a kilo of organics. If mosquitoes suddenly disappear ... For clarity, try throwing two or three hundred feces into a filled bathtub, stir well and carefully examine the resulting liquid. Yes, I don’t like it either. The problem is that organic particles of about this size, in addition to the larvae of mosquitoes and chironomids in the northern water bodies, there is especially no one else. An increase in the content of organic substances in a reservoir is called eutrophication and entails a rather large number of generally unpleasant changes. Do you know about flowering water? Well, that's about it. With locks and hydrogen sulfide.

Let's look at land plant communities.

Almost everything that a mosquito larva gained during an enhanced diet, unless, of course, it was eaten by the road itself, an adult mosquito that emerged from the pupa carries water from land to land, thus closing another branch of the natural cycle of substances. An article on site (3) tells us that with mosquitoes a huge amount of trace elements, such as cobalt, iodine and other periodic tables, gets back to land. The number in half tons is not very clear what, per square kilometer. I’m not a geochemist, therefore I can’t evaluate both the correctness of the site’s data (which, it seems, doesn’t look like an authoritative source), or the result of the disappearance of this hypothetical half-ton: if it’s micro-elements, then this is a monstrous amount. Clear, that in the north with its humid climate and leaching regime it is generally not very good with a bioavailable inorganic. By the way, I remember that in one expedition, a colleague who understands geochemistry is much more than me, spoke not just about the big, but about the leading role of mosquitoes in the phosphorus cycle. That is, on this side, we also have the right to expect tricks in the form of a decrease in the productivity of terrestrial plant communities. The forest will grow worse, and in particular, it will be worse and longer to recover after cinders, clearings and, to a lesser extent, windfalls; the fraction of surface runoff will increase through a rarefied soil cover compared to seepage, which in turn will lead to a greater washout of organics into water bodies, their further eutrophication, poorer soils on land, and further in a circle. who understands geochemistry much more than I did, he spoke not just about the big, but about the leading role of mosquitoes in the phosphorus cycle. That is, on this side, we also have the right to expect tricks in the form of a decrease in the productivity of terrestrial plant communities. The forest will grow worse, and in particular, it will be worse and longer to recover after cinders, clearings and, to a lesser extent, windfalls; the fraction of surface runoff will increase through a rarefied soil cover compared to seepage, which in turn will lead to a greater washout of organics into water bodies, their further eutrophication, poorer soils on land, and further in a circle. who understands geochemistry much more than I did, he spoke not just about the big, but about the leading role of mosquitoes in the phosphorus cycle. That is, on this side, we also have the right to expect tricks in the form of a decrease in the productivity of terrestrial plant communities. The forest will grow worse, and in particular, it will be worse and longer to recover after cinders, clearings and, to a lesser extent, windfalls; the fraction of surface runoff will increase through a rarefied soil cover compared to seepage, which in turn will lead to a greater washout of organics into water bodies, their further eutrophication, poorer soils on land, and further in a circle. it is worse and longer to recover from cinders, clearings and, to a lesser extent, windfalls; the fraction of surface runoff will increase through a rarefied soil cover compared to seepage, which in turn will lead to a greater washout of organics into water bodies, their further eutrophication, poorer soils on land, and further in a circle. it is worse and longer to recover from cinders, clearings and, to a lesser extent, windfalls; the fraction of surface runoff will increase through a rarefied soil cover compared to seepage, which in turn will lead to a greater washout of organics into water bodies, their further eutrophication, poorer soils on land, and further in a circle.

And finally, the impact on the fauna of vertebrates. Mosquito larvae are the main food for small fish fry. Yes, not frogs and not birds. and fish fry are the main consumers of mosquitoes, albeit in the form of larvae. We eliminate the larvae, and the success of breeding fish, primarily migratory salmon, will decrease by several times, if not by tens of times. Since there are always enough people who want to eat fry in the pond, primarily representatives of older ages of river fish, such as perch and pike, with a noticeably lower survival rate, we have a non-zero chance of dying the salmonids as a group as a whole. Those fry that have not died of starvation will be devoured by perch. Oil is poured into the pan with an increased amount of organic matter in water, the same eutrophication, and, consequently, a reduced amount of oxygen spent on the oxidation of the same organic matter. Salmonids do not like this so much that they simply cannot live. But even with a simple decrease in numbers (which quite happens on the rivers, which are densely fished by fishermen), a huge plop flies in to the whole fish-eating fauna. To eagles, arctic foxes, foxes, bears - how many people want to eat spawning fish in the taiga and tundra. As a side effect, the European pearl mussel will disappear almost instantly, but these are already very small details. We will take into account that salmon in the rivers breed, grow in the sea, and then return to breed and die back to the rivers, delivering all the organics acquired by overwork to their historical homeland ... In general, wildlife will live harder and more hungry in the north. which are densely fished by fishermen) a huge plush flies to the whole fish-eating fauna. To eagles, arctic foxes, foxes, bears - how many people want to eat spawning fish in the taiga and tundra. As a side effect, the European pearl mussel will disappear almost instantly, but these are already very small details. We will take into account that salmon in the rivers breed, grow in the sea, and then return to breed and die back to the rivers, delivering all the organics acquired by overwork to their historical homeland ... In general, wildlife will live harder and more hungry in the north. which are densely fished by fishermen) a huge plush flies to the whole fish-eating fauna. To eagles, arctic foxes, foxes, bears - how many people want to eat spawning fish in the taiga and tundra. As a side effect, the European pearl mussel will disappear almost instantly, but these are already very small details. We will take into account that salmon in the rivers breed, grow in the sea, and then return to breed and die back to the rivers, delivering all the organics acquired by overwork to their historical homeland ... In general, wildlife will live harder and more hungry in the north. but these are already very small details. We will take into account that salmon in the rivers breed, grow in the sea, and then return to breed and die back to the rivers, delivering all the organics acquired by overwork to their historical homeland ... In general, wildlife will live harder and more hungry in the north. but these are already very small details. We will take into account that salmon in the rivers breed, grow in the sea, and then return to breed and die back to the rivers, delivering all the organics acquired by overwork to their historical homeland ... In general, wildlife will live harder and more hungry in the north.

A little optimism in the end. Environmental feedback is overwhelmingly negative. All this system of unimaginable sizes is completely subordinate to the principles of Le Chatelier in their broad interpretation, trying to compensate for deviations from the established norm. For example, the same chironomids can suddenly take the place of disappeared mosquitoes (that is, they will try for sure whether the question will come out), because I do not know the reasons for the only flight of chironomids for the season, and in the changed conditions they can change the life cycle. Who wrote about the conversion of winter wheat to spring? Oh yes, Lysenko. Here the task is about a similar class.

I hope I showed the doubtfulness of the point of view “nothing will change in the balance sheet”: at least about what I planned to achieve. Zashim Scheherazade stops the permitted speech.

0.American scientists have created genetically modified mosquitoes that block the spread of malaria
1. Blood-sucking mosquitoes (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE) of the middle taiga subzone of Yakutia
2. Nutrition of blood-sucking mosquito larvae (Culicidae, Diptera)
3. The role of insects in ecological balance
4. Oligotrophic ponds - dic.academic.ru

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