A German team lead by Dutch professor of ecology Hans de Kroon concluded a new studies into insect populations. It shows that over the past 27 years, insect populations in nature preserves in Germany have declined by a stunning 75%.
At insect peak moments during summertime, even 80% less insects were found than in 1990.
They conclude that this trend is also representative for other Western European countries, like the Netherlands.
It confirms what people were already intuitively observing, and shows the problem is huge.
Biologists and ecologist raise great alarm. 'We really, really need insects'.
The main suspect is intensive agriculture.
How exactly insect populations could have deteriorated so dramatically remains somewhat of a mystery.
It is thought that various factors, like the use of neonicotinoids, the disappearance of wild growth at farmfield's borders, and the disappearance of irrigation ditches throughout the agrarian landscape all play a role.
One theory believes that dense agricultural areas attract insects, but are unable to sustain them, turning them into an ecological death trap.
So far, this is the most extensive research done so far into the declining insect populations. For 27 years, teams of researchers from the entomological society of Krefeld monitored insect populations every day and night on dozens of locations, using standardized insect traps. At the start of the research, 27 years ago, researches caught about 7-8 grams of flying insects per day, at the end they didn't catch more than 2 grams of insects.
https://www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/reden-tot-zorg-dramatische-afname-aantal-insecten~a4522415/https://phys.org/news/2017-10-three-quarters-total-insect-population-lost.htmlEDIT:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers