Amid big declines in wildlife, action can still help to reverse the trend for some species. This is the conclusion from a new analysis out of the UK which shows that freshwater insects, mosses and lichens are bucking the trend of wildlife losses in the country and have expanded their ranges since 1970.
The reason?
Reductions in air and water pollution. The work analyzed millions of sightings of 5,000 different invertebrate species by volunteers over 45 years. What they can see is that for many species, the average range of species in the UK plunged in the mid-1990s before rebounding in the 2010s, which coincides with the implementation of the EU urban wastewater treatment directive, which significantly cleaned up waters.
The research, which was published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, sheds light on the importance of strong environmental policies while simultaneously showing us all the importance of citizen science.
