Long-term changes in the abundance of flying insects
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Abstract. 1. For the first time, long‐term changes in total aerial insect biomass have been estimated for a wide area of Southern Britain. 2. Various indices of biomass were created for standardised samples from four of the Rothamsted Insect Survey 12.2 m tall suction traps for the 30 years from 1973 to 2002. 3. There was a significant decline in total biomass at Hereford but not at three other sites: Rothamsted, Starcross and Wye. 4. For the Hereford samples, many insects were identified at least to order level, some to family or species level. These samples were then used to investigate the taxa involved in the decline in biomass at Hereford. 5. The Hereford samples were dominated by large Diptera, particularly Dilophus febrilis , which showed a significant decline in abundance. 6. Changes in agricultural practice that could have contributed to the observed declines are discussed, as are potential implications for farmland birds, with suggestions for further work to investigate both cause and effect.
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Very few studies have monitored insect biomass over an extensive period of time.
“The total insect biomass would then be a better metric for the status of insects as a group and its contribution to ecosystem functioning, but very few studies have monitored insect biomass over an extensive period of time [28].”
From More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas (2017) · cites this paper as [28]
The data do not represent longitudinal records at single sites suitable to derive location-specific trends.
“Our data do not represent longitudinal records at single sites, suitable to derive location specific trends (e.g. [28]).”
From More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas (2017) · cites this paper as [28]
Malaise traps collect a much wider diversity of insect species than suction traps and are considered superior for collecting flying insects.
“Malaise traps are known to collect a much wider diversity of insect species (e.g. [29–31]) as compared to suction traps (e.g. [28]) and are therefore considered superior as a method of collecting flying insects.”
From More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas (2017) · cites this paper as [28]
The estimated decline is considerably more severe than the only comparable long-term study on flying insect biomass elsewhere.
“The estimated decline is considerably more severe than the only comparable long term study on flying insect biomass elsewhere [28].”
From More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas (2017) · cites this paper as [28]
In the comparable study, 12.2m high suction traps were deployed at four locations in the UK over 1973-2002 and showed a biomass decline at one of the four sites only.
“In that study, 12.2m high suction traps were deployed at four locations in the UK over the time period 1973–2002, and showed a biomass decline at one of the four sites only.”
From More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas (2017) · cites this paper as [28]
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More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
Hallmann, C. A., Sorg, M., Jongejans, E., Siepel, H., Hofland, N., Schwan, H., Stenmans, W., Müller, A., Sumser, H., Hörren, T., et al. (2017) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185809 · Cited by 3,499 · see citing works
- Authors
- SHORTALL, C. R., MOORE, A., SMITH, E., HALL, M. J., WOIWOD, I. P., & HARRINGTON, R.
- Affiliations
- Rothamsted Research (GB)
- Corresponding author
- HARRINGTON, RICHARD
- Venue
- Insect Conservation and Diversity
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-10-22
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 251-260
- ISSN
- 1752-458X (ISSN-L)
- 1752-4598
- OpenAlex
- W2136037660
- Cited by
- 150
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 3.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Insect Conservation and Diversity (publishedVersion)
- Rothamsted Repository (Rothamsted Repository) (acceptedVersion)
- Rothamsted Repository (Rothamsted Repository) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural England
- Directorate for Biological Sciences
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBS/E/C/00004957)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Plant and animal studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Avian ecology and behavior
- Keywords
- flying insects, long-term monitoring, Rothamsted Insect Survey, suction traps, Diptera, agricultural intensification, farmland birds, southern Britain
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