Dramatic decline of insects in the Netherlands

Scientific research commissioned by Natuurmonumenten shows that the number of insects is declining dramatically in the Netherlands. Measurements and analyses in recent decades show a decline of 54 percent (ground beetles) and 72 percent (ground beetles) in nature reserves. This represents a dramatic fall in these groups of insects, which is in line with the results of recent German, French, English and Dutch studies. And this is bad, as it has a huge impact on the cycle of life.

Two long-term studies on insect populations in nature reserves were eligible for analysis: 'De Kaaistoep' and 'Wijster.' An analysis of these two studies shows that the number of ground beetles counted in Wijster (nature reserve in Drenthe) has fallen by 72 percent over the past 22 years. The number of moths in De Kaaistoep (nature reserve in North Brabant) has fallen by 54 percent over 20 years. These two insect groups contain a total of 1,100 species, approximately 6 percent of all insect species that occur in the Netherlands.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-05-decline-insects-affects-netherlands.html#…