Insect populations are declining globally at alarming rates. The ecological consequences extend welfare impacts across entire food webs and ecosystems.
Insect decline has profound welfare implications beyond the insects themselves. As foundational elements of food webs, insect declines reduce the food availability for countless dependent species: insectivorous birds, bats, amphibians, and fish all face reduced prey abundance as insect populations shrink. The welfare consequences for these dependent species — reduced body condition, impaired reproduction, increased starvation — are real and cumulative. The ecological welfare costs of insect decline may be among the largest aggregate welfare harms caused by agricultural intensification. Addressing insect decline through pesticide reform, habitat restoration, and light pollution reduction simultaneously addresses individual insect welfare, ecosystem welfare, and the welfare of the many species that depend on thriving insect communities.