tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6537965748256551796.post2731092356602503139..comments2023-09-24T10:19:01.383+01:00Comments on John's Green Issues: Insects and the hot summer, to be followed by a Silent Spring?Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197399895034972279noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6537965748256551796.post-84659519803900597702006-10-27T16:16:00.000+01:002006-10-27T16:16:00.000+01:00JB has articulated what I have long felt about int...JB has articulated what I have long felt about intensive farming. And what land-owners often wax lyrically as "our countryside".<br><br>Chemically and intensively farmed landscapes have become functional deserts, i.e. have a species inventory of three, at a push four, over much of their area. They have been reduced to supersized job-lots confined to 'growing humans' by means of mono-crops (whether for consumption direct by humans or indirectly by their livestock). Leaving pitiful edges with a few lonely trees and shrubs is hardly "caring for our environment" and worthy of more tax-payers' money in subsidies.<br><br>Green Belt my arse! We should be putting housing, where needed, on these deserts, NOT on so-called Brown Field sites.<br><br>And while we're at it, we could consider scaling back on the over-consumption of animal fats, and farming as if we want to live here on a permanent basis. This would mean incorporating and encouraging biodiversity as a matter of high priority.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6537965748256551796.post-77047255015702169862006-11-03T17:01:00.000+00:002006-11-03T17:01:00.000+00:00Since we've converted our arable to organic produc...Since we've converted our arable to organic production the fields (still monoculture, but with a small average size and hedged boundaries)have been heaving with insects including ladybirds, grasshoppers, shield bugs and various beetles - I've not tried to identify them. Our contractor has never seen anything like it anywhere else, so our case proves both the problem and that recolonisation is possible, and not just on meadows. Obviously these won't be specialist species, but they'll still be helping eg. with bird numbers. The only problem is that a lot of them end up going right though the combine at harvest and into the grain bin rather worse for wear - so modern technology is still causing them difficulties...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com