A new study has found that the populations of terrestrial insects have gradually declined but there has been an increase in the freshwater insect populations.
The study which has been published in the journal Science states that the average decline of a terrestrial insect was found to be almost 9 per cent per decade.
Researchers of the study said that there is an increase of freshwater insect abundance by almost 11per cent per decade.
The study was carried out by Roel Klink, Diana Bowler, Jonathan Chase, Konstantin Gongalsky, Ann Swengel, Alessandro Gentile and Jonathan Chase.
The researchers compiled data from 166 long-term surveys across 1676 globally distributed sites.
Freshwater insect populations have increased overall, perhaps owing to clean water efforts and climate change, the study stated.
Patterns of variation suggest that local-scale drivers are likely responsible for many changes in population trends, providing hope for directed conservation actions, it added.
“We compiled data from 166 long-term surveys of insect assemblages across 1676 sites to investigate trends in insect abundances over time,” the researchers said.
The variation in insect population patterns was largely driven by strong trends in North America and some European regions, they added.
“We found some associations with potential drivers (e.g., land-use drivers), and trends in protected areas tended to be weaker,” they said.
“Our findings provide a more nuanced view of spatiotemporal patterns of insect abundance trends than previously suggested,” they added.
