1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,480 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren vogel Bomb here with a classic episode 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: from our podcast archives. In this one, we consider research 4 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: into the decline of insect populations around the world and 5 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:22,600 Speaker 1: what that might mean for the future. Hey there, brain Stuff, 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: Lauren vogel Bomb here. When you hear the word armageddon, 7 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: you might imagine a battle thought at the end of 8 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: the world by humans. But it's possible that battle is 9 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: being fought right now. Only all the casualties are bugs. 10 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: Insects are vitally important to the functioning of the world's ecosystems. 11 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: They do most of the plant pollination, after all, while 12 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,560 Speaker 1: providing food for the bulk of the world's birds, amphibians, reptiles, 13 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: and mammals. They're also essential in nutrient cycling, breaking down 14 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: the world's dead stuff, manure, and what have you to 15 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: make more dirt for us to grow our food in. 16 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: Every ecosystem on the planet needs insects, which is why 17 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: the apparent tanking of bug biomass is so alarming. A 18 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: study published in October seventeen in the journal Plos one 19 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: confirms the insect decline that many scientists and insect enthusiasts 20 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:13,839 Speaker 1: previously suspected, and it turns out their suspicions weren't just validated, 21 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: but surpassed. In Germany, insect biomass is declined by roughly 22 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: seventy percent over a little less than three decades. We 23 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: spoke with co author Casper Hallman of the Institute for 24 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: Water and Wetland Research at Radbound University in the Netherlands. 25 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: In an email, he said declines in insects as a 26 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: group have been suspected for quite some time, indirectly through 27 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,199 Speaker 1: declines in insect vorious birds, but around the globe only 28 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: a few data sets exist to inform us, and these 29 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: data are mainly concentrated around bees, butterflies and moths. Since 30 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: a group of amateur entomologists in Kerfeld, Germany, has been 31 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: collecting all kinds of insects from sixty three German nature 32 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: reserves between spring and autumn each year, following a highly 33 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: standardized sampling protocol. Over the years, realized that the tent 34 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: like traps specially designed to catch flying insects were yielding 35 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: a smaller and smaller catch each year, even though every 36 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,679 Speaker 1: aspect of their sampling regime remained constant. Weighing the total 37 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: biomass of the yearly hall over time allowed them to 38 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: quantify exactly how big a hit these flying insects have 39 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,920 Speaker 1: taken over the decades. They found an overall three quarters 40 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: decline in insects when they looked at the entire collecting season, 41 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: but in high summer, when insect numbers are at their highest, 42 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: the decline was even more noticeable. At These findings are 43 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: of course specific to Germany, and data are very scarce 44 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: for nature preserves in other parts of the world, but 45 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: the drop in insect populations is in no way limited 46 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: to Germany. The study authors speculate that their study locations 47 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: are representative of similar preserves around the world, and study 48 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: published in the journal Science detailed the decline in worldwide populations. 49 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,640 Speaker 1: The reason it's important to compare these data to those 50 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: taken from other protected areas has to do with the 51 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: fact that agricultural or urban areas have relative little to 52 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: offer insects and are often outright toxic to them. Therefore, 53 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: it's tough to note based on data from these areas 54 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,520 Speaker 1: whether insects are doing poorly in other places in the world, 55 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: in habitats where they should be thriving. That said, general 56 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: data sets on butterflies, moths, and most famously bees around 57 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 1: the world mostly point in the same dismal direction. Additionally, 58 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: the so called windshield phenomenon might not be data driven science, 59 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: but it seems that all over the world in recent 60 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: decades people have been noticing fewer squashed bugs on their 61 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: windshields than ever before. But what could be causing this 62 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: more than decimation of Germany's insects. While the research team 63 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: looked at whether changes in climatic conditions, the landscape or 64 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 1: the local habitat may have caused the decline, co author 65 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: Hallman says they were unable to explain it based on 66 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: these analyzes. Quote, Our best guests at this point are 67 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: the negative influences of land use surrounding the nature reserves, 68 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: particularly agricultural practices such as extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers, 69 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: as well as over decline in habitats sustainability in between 70 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: the reserves. But the effects of so many fewer insects 71 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: can already be observed in the decline of birds in Germany. 72 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: During the same time period, twelve million pairs of breeding 73 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: birds have disappeared, and the same trend has been observed 74 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: in other parts of Europe. So the next time you 75 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: see a bug in your house, reconsider squashing it and 76 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,120 Speaker 1: maybe just escorted outside. It's kind of having a tough 77 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: thirty years of it. Today's episode was written by Jesselyn 78 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: Shields and produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler. Playing. For 79 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: more than this and lots of other topics, visit how 80 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. 81 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 82 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.