Worldwide insect declines: An important message, but interpret with caution

Benno I. Simmons; Andrew Balmford; Andrew J. Bladon; Alec P. Christie; Adriana De Palma; Lynn V. Dicks; Juan Gallego-Zamorano; Alison Johnston; Philip A. Martin; Andy Purvis; Ricardo Rocha; Hannah S. Wauchope; Claire F. R. Wordley; Thomas A. Worthington; Tom Finch

doi:10.1002/ece3.5153

Worldwide insect declines: An important message, but interpret with caution

Benno I. Simmons^*, Andrew Balmford, Andrew J. Bladon, Alec P. Christie, Adriana De Palma, Lynn V. Dicks, Juan Gallego-Zamorano, Alison Johnston, Philip A. Martin, Andy Purvis, Ricardo Rocha, Hannah S. Wauchope, Claire F. R. Wordley, Thomas A. Worthington, Tom Finch

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review

83 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A recent paper claiming evidence of global insect declines achieved huge media attention, including claims of "insectaggedon" and a "collapse of nature." Here, we argue that while many insects are declining in many places around the world, the study has important limitations that should be highlighted. We emphasise the robust evidence of large and rapid insect declines present in the literature, while also highlighting the limitations of the original study.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3678-3680
Number of pages	3
Journal	Ecology and Evolution
Volume	9
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5153
Publication status	Published - Apr 2019

Keywords

entomofauna
invertebrates
population trends
systematic review

Access to Document

10.1002/ece3.5153

Cite this

Simmons, B. I., Balmford, A., Bladon, A. J., Christie, A. P., De Palma, A., Dicks, L. V., Gallego-Zamorano, J., Johnston, A., Martin, P. A., Purvis, A., Rocha, R., Wauchope, H. S., Wordley, C. F. R., Worthington, T. A., & Finch, T. (2019). Worldwide insect declines: An important message, but interpret with caution. Ecology and Evolution, 9(7), 3678-3680. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5153

@article{7e757ea284dc43caa693daff0bea808f,

title = "Worldwide insect declines: An important message, but interpret with caution",

abstract = "A recent paper claiming evidence of global insect declines achieved huge media attention, including claims of {"}insectaggedon{"} and a {"}collapse of nature.{"} Here, we argue that while many insects are declining in many places around the world, the study has important limitations that should be highlighted. We emphasise the robust evidence of large and rapid insect declines present in the literature, while also highlighting the limitations of the original study.",

keywords = "entomofauna, invertebrates, population trends, systematic review",

author = "Simmons, {Benno I.} and Andrew Balmford and Bladon, {Andrew J.} and Christie, {Alec P.} and {De Palma}, Adriana and Dicks, {Lynn V.} and Juan Gallego-Zamorano and Alison Johnston and Martin, {Philip A.} and Andy Purvis and Ricardo Rocha and Wauchope, {Hannah S.} and Wordley, {Claire F. R.} and Worthington, {Thomas A.} and Tom Finch",

year = "2019",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1002/ece3.5153",

language = "English",

volume = "9",

pages = "3678--3680",

journal = "Ecology and Evolution",

issn = "2045-7758",

publisher = "John Wiley & Sons, Ltd",

number = "7",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Worldwide insect declines

T2 - An important message, but interpret with caution

AU - Simmons, Benno I.

AU - Balmford, Andrew

AU - Bladon, Andrew J.

AU - Christie, Alec P.

AU - De Palma, Adriana

AU - Dicks, Lynn V.

AU - Gallego-Zamorano, Juan

AU - Johnston, Alison

AU - Martin, Philip A.

AU - Purvis, Andy

AU - Rocha, Ricardo

AU - Wauchope, Hannah S.

AU - Wordley, Claire F. R.

AU - Worthington, Thomas A.

AU - Finch, Tom

PY - 2019/4

Y1 - 2019/4

N2 - A recent paper claiming evidence of global insect declines achieved huge media attention, including claims of "insectaggedon" and a "collapse of nature." Here, we argue that while many insects are declining in many places around the world, the study has important limitations that should be highlighted. We emphasise the robust evidence of large and rapid insect declines present in the literature, while also highlighting the limitations of the original study.

AB - A recent paper claiming evidence of global insect declines achieved huge media attention, including claims of "insectaggedon" and a "collapse of nature." Here, we argue that while many insects are declining in many places around the world, the study has important limitations that should be highlighted. We emphasise the robust evidence of large and rapid insect declines present in the literature, while also highlighting the limitations of the original study.

KW - entomofauna

KW - invertebrates

KW - population trends

KW - systematic review

U2 - 10.1002/ece3.5153

DO - 10.1002/ece3.5153

M3 - Editorial

SN - 2045-7758

VL - 9

SP - 3678

EP - 3680

JO - Ecology and Evolution

JF - Ecology and Evolution

IS - 7

ER -

Worldwide insect declines: An important message, but interpret with caution

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this