Item — HN Reader

From the article, past the first paragraphs..

"Over that time the group, the Krefeld Entomological Society, has seen the yearly insect catches fluctuate, as expected. But in 2013 they spotted something alarming. When they returned to one of their earliest trapping sites from 1989, the total mass of their catch had fallen by nearly 80%. Perhaps it was a particularly bad year, they thought, so they set up the traps again in 2014. The numbers were just as low. Through more direct comparisons, the group—which had preserved thousands of samples over 3 decades—found dramatic declines across more than a dozen other sites."

"The mass of insects collected by monitoring traps in the Orbroicher Bruch nature reserve in northwest Germany dropped by 78% in 24 years."

1 comments

The study concerns a 220-acre area.

To extrapolate from that to the world is a mistake. From what I believe is the original paper (copy at http://www.bouldercountybeekeepers.org/wp-content/uploads/20... ):

"The results show that, in the same two areas, sampled in the years 1989 and 2013, there was a dramatic fall in the number of flying insects.

Using the same traps, in the same areas, significant reductions of insect populations, of more than 75%, were found.

Our data confirms, that in the areas studied, less than 25% of the original number of flying insects collected in 1989, were still present in 2013.

Orboicher Bruch Area

The Orboicher Bruch, to the Northwest of Krefeld, is a designated Nature Reserve of around 100 hectares (220 acres). Due to the reserve’s relatively remote location and its rugged landscape, intensive farming came to the area only recently."