Researchers have claimed that deforestation in southern New Zealand has had a direct impact on the evolution of an insect species.

They discovered that

stoneflies

of the species 

Zelandoperla fenestrata

 had lost their ability to fly due to the change in their habitat.

In their study published in

The Royal Society Publishing on

Wednesday, and relayed by 

Numerama,

the authors implicated human activity.

They thus explained in their work that the observed phenomenon had its origin in an “environmental change caused by humans”.

Scientists have particularly pointed the finger at the deforestation observed in the zones of delimitation of the trees, in which the climatic and natural conditions allow the trees to develop.

But also in which these populations of insects are found.

Our new paper on the rapid evolution of insect flight loss following widespread deforestation in New Zealand: https: //t.co/r6tz8v5eU7 pic.twitter.com/sGZ35YTJVz

- Brodie Foster (@BrodieFoster) August 11, 2021

40% of New Zealand's forested area transformed into grassland

Thus, the

Zelandoperla fenestrata

are equipped with wings when they evolve in a wooded environment.

Insects living at altitude, on the other hand, have seen their wings atrophy through natural selection.

Due to the strong winds, only the wingless specimens survived.

According to New Zealand researchers, this situation is therefore due to the massive felling of trees in this region.

Deforestation has in fact been heavily practiced there for six or seven hundred years.

40% of the initially forested area of ​​southern New Zealand is now grassland.

Deprived of the shelter of the trees, the

local

Zelandoperla fenestrata

found themselves exposed to the wind like their counterparts living at altitude.

And over time, they lost their ability to fly.

"These changes could have taken place in less than 300 generations, given the relatively long generation time (two or three years) in mountain populations" of the insect, argued the authors of the study.

According to them, the case of 

Zelandoperla fenestrata 

constitutes "a new example of rapid evolutionary change induced by human beings" and the increasing deforestation "may have consequences on the conservation" of this species.

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  • Science

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  • New Zealand

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  • Deforestation