A Decline of Insects in Germany

Euronews informs that nearly 2,700 insect species have declined by over a third in ten years in Germany. An international research team led by scientists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) collected more than one million insects between 2008 and 2017 at 300 sites across the German states of Brandenburg, Thuringia and Baden-Wurttemberg.

Scientists have warned the decline of insects in German forests and grassland is “frightening” particularly in the vicinity of intensively farmed land.

According to the UN Environment programme, insects, which make up about half of all known living organisms, are crucial to ecosystems because they play key roles in pollination and nutrient cycling, as well as in the food chains of birds and other insectivores.

It attributed habitat loss by conversion to intensive agriculture as the main driver of the declines. The use of agrochemical pollutants and climate change are additional causes, calling for “rethinking of current agricultural practices, in particular, a serious reduction in pesticide usage.”

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