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| ] found in nature reserves in Germany – about 75% loss in 26 years.<ref name=PLoS/>]] | |||
| In the 21st century, there appears to be a widespread '''decline in the number of insects'''. The phenomenon is due to multiple factors including ], ]s, ] and ].<ref name=BBC/><ref name=BC/><ref name=G/><ref name=S17/> | In the 21st century, there appears to be a widespread '''decline in the number of insects'''. The phenomenon is due to multiple factors including ], ]s, ] and ].<ref name=BBC/><ref name=BC/><ref name=G/><ref name=S17/> | ||
Revision as of 01:37, 13 March 2019
In the 21st century, there appears to be a widespread decline in the number of insects. The phenomenon is due to multiple factors including habitat destruction, pesticides, introduced species and climate change.
Reviews and studies
A 2014 review in Science – Defaunation in the Anthropocene – found that "Of all insects with IUCN-documented population trends, 33% are declining ... Globally, a compiled index of all invertebrate population declines over the past 40 years shows an overall 45% decline".
In 2019, a systematic review of the issue – Worldwide decline of the entomofauna – was published in the journal Biological Conservation. This analysed 73 reports and studies and found that, overall, there were "dramatic rates of decline".
Limitations of studies
In their 2019 systemic review, Sánchez-Bayo & Wyckhuys pointed out that most scientific and public attention was focused on the conservation of larger, charismatic vertebrates, that insect biodiversity was low on the agenda and that few studies had been done on such insect groups as Diptera, Orthoptera and Hemiptera. Data from the past from which to calculate trends was largely unavailable, and what did exist mostly related to Western Europe and North America, with the tropics and southern hemisphere being under-represented. The insect studies that had been undertaken were largely concentrated on the more popular insect groups, butterflies and moths, bees, dragonflies and beetles.
Responses
A March 2019 statement by the Entomological Society of America said there is not sufficient data to predict an imminent mass extinction of insects.
Conservation measures
Following the 2016 report of the Entomologischer Verein Krefeld and other studies, the German environment ministry – the BMU – started its Action Program for Insect Protection (Aktionsprogramm Insektenschutz). This initially contained nine goals:
- "Promote insect habitats and structural diversity in the agricultural landscape"
- "Restore and connect habitats for insects in other landscape areas"
- "Strengthen protected areas as habitats for insects"
- "Reduce the use of pesticides"
- "Reduce inputs of nutrients and pollutants in soil and water"
- "Reduce light pollution"
- "Deepening research - multiplying knowledge - closing gaps"
- "Improve funding - create incentives"
- "Promote the commitment of society"
The Entomological Society of America advise that measures regular people can take include maintaining plant diversity in their gardens, and leaving "natural habitat, like leaf litter and dead wood."
Citizen science is used to monitor insect populations. People have noticed a decline in the number of insects splattered on car windshields when they drive across their country – the windshield phenomenon. Phone apps such as iNaturalist can be used to photograph and identify specimens and these are being used in programs such as the City Nature Challenge. Activities and projects may focus upon a particular type of insect such as National Moth Week and monarch butterfly conservation in California.
See also
- Biodiversity decline
- Colony collapse disorder
- Decline in amphibian populations
- Holocene extinction
- Pollinator decline
References
- McGrath, Matt (11 February 2019), Global insect decline may see 'plague of pests', BBC
{{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Sánchez-Bayo, Francisco; Wyckhuys, Kris A.G. (31 January 2019), "Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers", Biological Conservation, 232: 8–27, doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.020
- ^ Damian Carrington (10 February 2019), "Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature'", The Observer
- Vogel, Gretchen (10 May 2017), "Where have all the insects gone?", Science
- Dirzo, Rodolfo; Young, Hillary; Galetti, Mauro; Ceballos, Gerardo; Isaac, Nick; Collen, Ben (25 July 2014), "Defaunation in the Anthropocene" (PDF), Science, 345 (6195): 401–406, doi:10.1126/science.1251817
- ^ Global Insect Biodiversity:Frequently Asked Questions (PDF), Entomological Society of America, March 2019
{{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - Bélanger, J.; Pilling, D., eds. (2019), The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture (PDF), Rome: FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, p. 133
- Action program insect protection (in German), Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit, 10 October 2018
- Katherine Roth, Apps let everyone help track health of insect populations, Associated Press
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