These Bugs In New Zealand Changed Color Because Of Human Activity
In response to human-induced environmental changes, New Zealand’s stoneflies have changed color. It is the clearest evidence of human activity shaping animal evolution to date.
Due to recent deforestation, the native stonefly has become a different color, according to Jon Waters, a professor of the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago.
“In natural forested regions, a native species has evolved ‘warning’ colors that mimic those of a poisonous forest species to trick predators into thinking they are poisonous too,” said Waters.
“But the removal of forests since humans arrived has removed the poisonous species. As a result, in deforested regions, the mimicking species has abandoned this strategy—as there is nothing to mimic—instead evolving into a different color.”
The deforestation that came with the arrival of humans pushed out the poisonous species. Since they no longer existed, the stoneflies stopped their old mimicking strategy and adapted to their new environment, becoming a different color.
For a long time, scientists have wondered whether humans were capable of causing evolutionary changes in animal populations.
The most famous case of human-driven evolution was the peppered moth in the United Kingdom. It changed color as a reaction to industrial pollution in the 1800s.
The moth’s response has sparked an interest in the interactions between humans and native species. Yet, even that case has been a subject of debate.
This stonefly study has provided concrete proof of humans unintentionally altering the way native species behave.
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“This study is important because it shows that, at least for some of our native species, there is the possibility of adapting to the environmental changes caused by humans, even when the change is rapid,” said Dr. Graham McCulloch, a co-author of the study.
“It also shows that independent populations have undergone similar changes in response to deforestation—there have been similar shifts independently in different parts of the species’ range—showing that evolution can be a predictable process.”
Although it is possible for some species to adapt to human actions, that does not mean we should not do all we can to limit our ecological impact.
When one species is influenced by human presence, so are others within the network. It creates a ripple effect across the entire ecosystem.
The disappearance of the poisonous species in New Zealand’s forests transformed the stoneflies, but it likely affected other organisms in the area as well, altering food sources, reshaping dynamics between predators and prey, and even modifying pollination processes.
These are major consequences that force us to consider our impact more deeply, especially since many species that may not have the tools to navigate drastic environmental changes in their natural habitats.
The study was published in the journal Science.
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