From taxonomy to ecology: Entomologists are essential in environmental science. Comment on Zhou et al. (2019)
2021
Hu, Fang-Shuo | Ho, Bin-Hong
The present paper commented on Zhou et al. (2019) published on Science of the Total Environment. The authors measured the Pb concentration and bioaccumulation factor (BAF) of a few species of insects collected from Sichuan, China. However, based on the photos of the graphical abstract, we doubt the identification of the species. The biomass of the dung beetles was re-measured based on the specimens from Taiwan of the same species. The results are highly different than the authors, which positively affected the results and discussion. The experimental design should be based on actual food chains along with basal entomological knowledge. In conclusion, we recommend that studies on interactions between insects and the environment are conducted through collaboration with entomologists to ensure taxonomy and functional ecology are correctly identified.
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