‘Ecological Armageddon’ IMMINENT as insect numbers dwindle in ‘ALARMING DISCOVERY’

The research showed that the number of flying insects has fallen by 75 per cent over the last 25 years, a shocking number that will have a severe impact on society.

Hans de Kroon, the study lead from Radboud University in the Netherlands said: “The fact that the number of flying insects is decreasing at such a high rate in such a large area is an alarming discovery.”

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Professor Dave Goulson from Sussex University added: “Insects make up about two-thirds of all life on Earth but there has been some kind of horrific decline.

“We appear to be making vast tracts of land inhospitable to most forms of life, and are currently on course for ecological Armageddon.”

He also told The Times: “On the current trajectory, our grandchildren will inherit a profoundly impoverished world.

“If we lose the insects then everything is going to collapse.”

The study examined insect numbers in 63 nature reserves that have been in place since 1989.

Insects play a fundamental role in the sustenance of human life as both pollinators and prey for other animals – the study was carried out across Germany and published in Plos One.

The dwindling number of insects is most striking due to the fact that research took place in protected areas and reserves across Germany, increasing the enormity of the discovery.

Caspar Hallmann, from Radboud University, told The Guardian: “All these areas are protected and most of them are well-managed nature reserves.

“Yet, this dramatic decline has occurred.

“The research areas are mostly small and enclosed by agricultural areas.

“These surrounding areas attract flying insects and they cannot survive there.

“It is possible that these areas act as an ecological trap and jeopardise the populations in the nature reserves.”

A clear cause for the falling numbers is yet to be determined – the researchers analysed weather measurements and recorded any changes, but found no clear link.

Martin Sorg from the Krefeld Entomological Society in Germany stated: “The weather might explain many of the fluctuations within the season and between the years, but it doesn’t explain the rapid downward trend.”

Mr Goulson added: “Farmland has very little to offer for any wild creature.

“But exactly what is causing their death is open to debate.

“It could be simply that there is no food for them or it could be, more specifically, exposure to chemical pesticides, or a combination of the two.”

A chief scientific adviser to the UK Government has declared that the use of pesticides in large landscapes has been “ignored”, suggesting this could be a significant factor into the dwindling numbers.

He said: “The effects of dosing whole landscapes with chemicals have been largely ignored.”

Due to the study taking place in Germany, the scientists have admitted that additional research is needed in new regions to confirm if insects are facing the same threat across the globe.

Mr De Kroon added: “As entire ecosystems are dependent on insects for food and as pollinators, it places the decline of insect-eating birds and mammals in a new context.

“We can barely imagine what would happen if this downward trend continues unabated.

“The only thing we can do right now is to maintain the utmost caution.

“We need to do less of the things that we know have a negative impact, such as the use of pesticides and the disappearance of farmland borders full of flowers.

“But we also have to work hard at extending our nature reserves and decreasing the ratio of reserves that border agricultural areas.”

The work has drawn comments from other researchers that did not play a part in the study, such as Lynn Dicks from the University of East Anglia.

She claimed: “The research provides important new evidence for an alarming decline that many entomologists have suspected is occurring for some time.

“If total flying insect biomass is genuinely declining at this rate – about 6 per cent per year – it is extremely concerning.

“Flying insects have really important ecological functions, for which their numbers matter a lot.

“They pollinate flowers: flies, moths and butterflies are as important as bees for many flowering plants, including some crops.

“They provide food for many animals – birds, bats, some mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians.

“Flies, beetles and wasps are also predators and decomposers, controlling pests and cleaning up the place generally.”