this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2023
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Curious on some replies here. I always hear having bees go instinct would be horrible for us. Curious if that’s the worse?

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[–] Susaga@sh.itjust.works 31 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Humans, probably. Just look at the impact COVID had on the environment.

Yeah, runaway global warming might not happen. Plant monocultures would begin to disappear. New invasive species wouldn’t happen, though existing ones might have a better time for a bit. Major thoroughfares wouldn’t create barriers to migration. Dams might take centuries to collapse, but I think humans going extinct might have one of the biggest impacts.

[–] metalgeek@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Track_Shovel 1 points 1 year ago

Or the hounds? Or the hounds the when they bark, shoot bees out of their mouth?

[–] havilland@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago

Ever wondered what happened to all these bugs on the car when driving through the countryside? There is already something big happening and we are just getting started.

Here is a talk on the topic of insects driven to the point of extinction due to neonicotinoid pesticides (unfortunately the talk is in german. Maybe someone is able to find a english version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_p9yYXZuCI

[–] animist@lemmy.one 6 points 1 year ago

Bees probably

[–] plum@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Humans going extinct would probably be the most beneficial.

[–] Candelestine@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] gigachad@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago

It's true, but Phytoplankton is not an animal.

[–] rm_dash_r_star@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Definitely the phytoplankton since it provides the bulk of Earth's oxygen production. Oxygen only exists because the ecosystem replenishes it. If all oxygen production stopped it would only take a few thousand years to deplete completely. Oxygen binds quickly with everything around it.

[–] Track_Shovel 1 points 1 year ago

Real answer here

[–] Drewsteau@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Bees and coral are both great answers, but I’m going to go with spiders. The amount of smaller pest insects that spiders consume is definitely overlooked and without them just imagine the swarms of bugs that would aggregate during the summer months

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Humans going extinct would probably have an enormous impact.

[–] Track_Shovel 1 points 1 year ago

The word you're looking for is extinct.

There's a theory in ecology, called the Gleason Rivet Hypothesis. The premise is that there are about 8 spp. that hold together an ecosystem, but we don't know which ones they are. Thus, like rivets on an airplane, you want to keep them all intact.

From my perspective? soil fauna/microbes. No cycling of nutrients? no decay? world of hurt soon to follow.

[–] Discoslugs@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Many species of flies are foundational in the food web.

flies are also great pollenators