Germany Sees Drastic Decrease in Insects

A 27-year-long study finds insect biomass has declined by about 75 percent.

head shot of blond woman wearing glasses
| 4 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
4:00
Share

Insects within alcohol Malaise trapENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY KREFELD Sampling from 63 protected nature areas throughout Germany, researchers have found a drop in flying insect mass by about 76 percent over 27 years. The results, published today (October 18) in PLOS ONE, are drastic, but are consistent with prior studies of butterflies, wild bees, and other surveys of specific insect species.

“The amount of decline, about 75 percent, is way too much to be attributed to just one or a few species such as bees or butterflies,” says plant ecologist and study author Hans de Kroon of Radboud University in the Netherlands. “These results are not from agricultural areas but natural preserves that are well-maintained and meant to protect biodiversity. We are seeing insects slipping out of our hands.”

De Kroon, along with Caspar Hallmann and others from Radboud University, paired up with colleagues from Entomological Society Krefeld in Germany who had begun collecting nature preserve insect biomass data more than two decades ago. “[Our colleagues] are excellent field biologists who were visionary and realized it was important to collect this broader insect population data,” says ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • head shot of blond woman wearing glasses

    Anna Azvolinsky

    Anna Azvolinsky is a freelance science writer based in New York City.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio