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Bug Earth United States Science

Car 'Splatometer' Tests Reveal Huge Decline In Number of Insects 130

Posted by BeauHD from the insect-apocalypse dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Two scientific studies of the number of insects splattered by cars have revealed a huge decline in abundance at European sites in two decades. The survey of insects hitting car windscreens in rural Denmark used data collected every summer from 1997 to 2017 and found an 80% decline in abundance. It also found a parallel decline in the number of swallows and martins, birds that live on insects.

The second survey, in the UK county of Kent in 2019, examined splats in a grid placed over car registration plates, known as a "splatometer." This revealed 50% fewer impacts than in 2004. The research included vintage cars up to 70 years old to see if their less aerodynamic shape meant they killed more bugs, but it found that modern cars actually hit slightly more insects. [...] The stream research, published in the journal Conservation Biology, analyzed weekly data from 1969 to 2010 on a stream in a German nature reserve, where the only major human impact is climate change. "Overall, water temperature increased by 1.88C and discharge patterns changed significantly. These changes were accompanied by an 81.6% decline in insect abundance," the scientists reported. "Our results indicate that climate change has already altered [wildlife] communities severely, even in protected areas."
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Car 'Splatometer' Tests Reveal Huge Decline In Number of Insects More

Car 'Splatometer' Tests Reveal Huge Decline In Number of Insects

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  • Software eating the world (Score:5, Funny)

    by El_Muerte_TDS ( 592157 ) on Thursday February 13, 2020 @06:05PM (#59725732) Homepage

    The bugs have moved to all our "smart" devices.

    • The bugs are being killed off by the drive around bug sprayers and nothing to do with the climate^C

      • where do you live where this exists? It sounds glorious.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Calydor ( 739835 )

        Driven bug sprayers in a nature reserve? I'm sure you've submitted your evidence for this to the proper authorities so they can hand out some really massive fines?

      • Wrong on both fronts. This isnâ(TM)t an attack its just observation. Warm climate will create more bugs because cold winters are not killing off nearly as many eggs and dormant bugs. I have noticed this myself. Over the last 2 decades the number of bugs hitting my windshield has nearly vanished. IMO it is Monsanto and the genetic engineered crops.

        I think the pollen from monsanto plants are killing the bugs.

        • What happens if we have proof Mosanto and
          its directors/owners are killing the human race by
          killing 99% of insects causing mass food shortages in 2030s?

          Sue them? how will that fix things. And what if the directors
          all disapear magically of the face of the earth? Or do they pleed ignorance saying, hey its all approved, sue the govt.

      • "The bugs are being killed off by the drive around bug sprayers and nothing to do with the climate^C"

        You live in a Club Med?
        Sweet!

  • Temperature alone doesn't make sense here (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Thursday February 13, 2020 @06:08PM (#59725760)

    The temperature has not changed at all quickly compared to seasonal cycles insects already have to endure.

    Insects are also incredible fast breeders, making them highly adaptable to environmental changes.

    I'm not going to argue with the findings there are fewer insects, but I think they are trying to place blame with a factor that doesn't make as much sense as, for instance, local use of insecticides on crops or housing development which would have vastly more an impact...

    • That hole you're sticking your head isn't deep enough to continue this denial.

    • Re:Temperature alone doesn't make sense here (Score:5, Interesting)

      by enigma32 ( 128601 ) on Thursday February 13, 2020 @06:27PM (#59725844)

      From the paper:

      Declines in insect abundance may have a number of causes including altered land use, novel pesticides, climate warming, and invasive predators.

      There's a bit of a non-sequitur about fertilizers and insecticides in the abstract, but I think they're leaving the door open to a number of commonly suspected causes for a very clearly demonstrated issue.

      The summary here is complete crap, though.

      • Another plausible explanation is rising CO2 levels, which are 48% higher than pre-industrial levels.

        The respiratory systems of insects [wikipedia.org] are less efficient than the lungs and gills of vertebrates, which is one reason they are so small. Back in the Carboniferous Period [wikipedia.org], when O2 levels were higher and CO2 levels were lower, bugs were WAY bigger than today.

        So maybe bugs are dying because they are having trouble breathing. A way to test this hypothesis would be to look at the dead bugs on the windshields and se

    • Great comment!

      I think they said the only human impact was climate change in the stream, however this is just a crappy reference to climate based on wanting to get promoted. Obviously there are many other variables which may or may not be from humans also there is some debate that climate change is significantly controlled or the result of human activity (the fact that it is 1 degree higher and this is assumed to be CO2 but that is possibly just a factor.) Insects tend to come and go. A few years ago we g

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by PPH ( 736903 )

        There are a lot of things humans can do to wipe out insects. Years ago, we had a 'pond scum' problem in local lakes. Insects loved it. Salmon fry loved it. We had some very successful salmon derbys where you had to try hard to not catch fish. Environmentalists hated it. Actually rich people who lived on the lake and didn't like the poor water clarity and bugs. So they pushed to get the watershed cleaned up. Now there's much less biological runoff into the lake, clearer water, fewer bugs, far fewer salmon fr

    • local use of insecticides on crops or housing development which would have vastly more an impact

      The published paper actually talks about that. A good bit. The Slashdot summary completely misses it. Go after the Slashdot editor, the paper already points to light pollution, pesticides, development, and temperature.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gtall ( 79522 )

      "local use of insecticides on crops or housing development which would have vastly more an impact." and you know this how?

      • Most of the literature on the subject substantiate that claim. Habitat loss and pesticides are the top causes.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z00L00K ( 682162 )

      Don't miss out on changes in nature where there are fewer wetlands today than it was 40 to 50 years ago. And farming has become more specialized as well - today many farms are highly industrialized where there's either cattle or growth of plants, so the insects suffer from a monoculture situation where they actually may need a more mixed environment of animals, grazing land, plant growth and forest patches to thrive.

      To many insects modern agriculture land is a desert area. Some insects need what's considere

  • As an aspiring biologist (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DogDude ( 805747 ) on Thursday February 13, 2020 @06:09PM (#59725766)
    This is fucking terrifying. This is something that lots of biologists are talking about, because the older biologists among us can see a clear difference over the past few decades, even though there haven't been a lot of studies to back this up yet.

    Most of the general public is completely and totally disconnected from the world we live in, and simply don't understand that if our ecosystems collapse, so will we. It goes far, far beyond just pollinating corn so you can get your sugar fix. And even if we could survive with a fraction of wildlife that we used to have, who the hell wants to live in a dead world (a la: The Road by Cormac McCarthy)? I certainly wouldn't.

    • Re:As an aspiring biologist (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Chromal ( 56550 ) on Thursday February 13, 2020 @06:20PM (#59725812)
      Yes, terrifying is the correct word for this, and in general humanity's inability to deal with the ecocidal consequences of its own environmentally harmful industrial-scale activities. This feels like that scene in the horror movie where the protagonist realizes that nature around them has fallen utterly silent, and they're still looking around trying to figure out why while a horrific fate stalks closer and closer...

      • >Yes, terrifying is the correct word for this

        No. Only for brainless fearmongers.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Chromal ( 56550 )
          You know, that's real easy for you to say because talk is cheap. What makes you a credible authority on ecological stability? Nothing, which is why your retort isn't worth its weight in hot air. It's difficult, but you're going to need to apply yourself and realize many of the assumptions you believe won't hold up to a reality test.

    • Re:As an aspiring biologist (Score:5, Interesting)

      by memnock ( 466995 ) on Thursday February 13, 2020 @06:37PM (#59725884)

      Strictly anecdotal: In Central Florida in the 90s, the car windshields at night, and during the day in spring, were a mess from all the bugs. Last time I was in Florida, I commented on how relatively clean the windshield was compared to what I remembered from years back. Like I said, it's an anecdote, but I'd bet real data would show that Europe is hardly the only place where this decline is taking place.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DogDude ( 805747 )
        I hear that exact same thing from anybody older than 40ish. Lots and lots of anecdotes.
      • Moral of the story: STOP exterminating OUR INSECTS with your WINDSHIELD!

      • I'd anecdotally agree - but I wonder what effect aerodynamics and possibly glass types/coatings and so on have on how many bugs have to die for your drive?

        I also wonder if traffic conditions are a factor. In any journey on a motorway, I can expect to be doing less than 50mph for at least some percentage of it. When there were less cars around, they might not have got 0-60 anywhere as quickly, but you could drive uninterrupted for longer. Further, the gaps between cars presumably means the flies can re-congr

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      I don't think it's because the public is disconnected. People are just crap at considering long term consequences. We fail the marshmallow test.

      My home town is a farming community in the middle of nowhere. Farmers are always complaining about the weather. They'll be happy to tell you how much colder winters used to be, how the lack of snowmelt in the spring is hurting their crops, how more rain in the fall interferes with the harvest. But they'll also argue vehemently that climate change is a city folk cons

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by U0K ( 6195040 )
        I'd argue that is still a form of disconnection. A disconnection between what their senses tell them and how their ideological beliefs tell them to interpret that data.

        What you describe is much the same here in my part of Germany.

        The farmers complain about the hot and dry summers that we had in the last decade and increased cost through irrigation.
        They complain about the storms that have seemingly getting stronger and causing more damage every year.
        Complain about the mostly mild winters. So far there

    • In Australia I've been anecdotally noticing it for a decade. I'm in my 40s and 30 years ago as a kid in the car, a drive at night was just damn near dangerous. The qty of moths on the windscreen of the car was often so intense you'd have to wash the windscreen, with soap due to the oily / flaky stuff on moth wings.

      This was common in most night drives.

      Now seeing insects hit the screen is very, very rare. SURELY something like this has bigger ramifications for the planet, plants, animals etc. I

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DogDude ( 805747 )
        Oh, ecosystem collapse is happening right now. I don't know if there's an ecosystem on Earth that can continue on as we know it without a lot of insects. Shit's gonna get really bad over the next few decades.

        • Try having a wife insisting on having children. I feel like there's only a small handful of people on earth with their eyes wide enough to see what's going on.

    • What does corn have to do with sugar?

      • What does corn have to do with sugar?

        White sugar that you buy to bake with comes from sugar cane and sugar beets
        But most of the sugar that people actually eat does not actually come from that.
        Most of the sugar that is added to our food and drinks is high fructose corn syrup
        Not cane sugar.

    • I have noticed this recently too. I pretty much never need to clean my windshield and barely ever use my wipers either, and I used to be cleaning and wiping due to bugs ALL THE TIME. Same when riding my motorcycle, barely any bug splats on my face shield. I had just been wondering about this when I saw this article.
  • Eventually you will have no more bugs. You can't just blame the weather for everything.

    -Captain Obvious

    -But weather isn't climate.. go away.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by DogDude ( 805747 )
      You're wrong. Read the paper.

      • wow. A republican supporter of climate change - you sir are a rare bird.

              Read the transcript! Read the paper! Read the X! you guys need a new line already.

  • It's not the very minor temperature increase - it's mile after mile of monoculture plants, sprayed with chemicals to prevent those insects from eating said plants.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DogDude ( 805747 )
      Nope. Read the paper.

      • Nope. Read the paper.

        Nothing is ever as simple as somebody writing a single paper and thus definitively and indisputably explaining a complex process. Monoculture, habitat destruction and pesticides are every bit as much to blame as climate change.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by DogDude ( 805747 )
          So there's a paper that says one thing, based on evidence and research. And then there's random Internet person(?) saying something random based on their own opinion. Hmm... which position is more believable...? Hmmm...

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by Freischutz ( 4776131 )

            So there's a paper that says one thing, based on evidence and research. And then there's random Internet person(?) saying something random based on their own opinion. Hmm... which position is more believable...? Hmmm...

            There is one paper that attributes the entirety of the collapse of insect populations to climate change, there is a second paper that attributes it to pesticides, there is a third paper that attributes it to habitat destruction and monoculture ... hmmm ... is the first paper indisputably correct? ... or could it be that the decline of insect populations is a more complex process that so that it can be explained with a single contributing factor. Perhaps this is a complex process that is influenced by multip

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by radl33t ( 900691 )
            Hey man, there are like, other papers and stuff.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by cirby ( 2599 )

            No, there's a paper that says one thing based on SOME evidence and a not-very-detailed experimental plan.

            "We only checked cars going through a nature preserve" doesn't address all of the environmental changes around that preserve, it doesn't address invasive species, pesticide spread through winds, et bloody cetera.

            Hell, an increase in traffic alone would account for a lot of the change.

            Or even (gasp!) evolution, where the insects are rapidly evolving to fly a few feet higher above smooth flat surfaces inst

      • "The decline in insect abundance reported here could partly be attributed to changes in climate."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Chromal ( 56550 )
      It's going to be 'interesting' to see what stands up to fill all the empty niches in the ecosystem, if anything, as the biodiversity declines. I don't think it'll be as nice as the Earth we had.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        Rats, bedbugs and lice are doing pretty well (the latter two after a pretty big hit).

  • I suspect that there is higher car density than in olden days, hence less bugs being hit per car. You would have to use the total number of cars and splats per car. 8-)

  • In the past two decades, cars have become more aerodynamic, which I believe leads to less 'splats'. If this were able to be modeled and accounted for, I might believe this story.

  • Maybe insects have learned to avoid collisions with cars?

    If you view documentaries about living things, it is often amazing how sensible they are.

    For example: Monarch Butterfly Migration and Overwintering [fs.fed.us]. How did butterflies teach themselves to migrate??? Quote: "Some fly as far as 3,000 miles to reach their winter home!"
  • At some point there is an evolutionary fear response that gets instilled in living things which says X == bad so don't do X, and if I recall correctly, many bugs are born with genetic memory -- perhaps the bugs are evolving (find the Brain bug). Is there a parallel test to check for the number of insects away from the roads to see if they're prospering?
  • I wonder how much modern aerodynamics play a part in this; my newish M3 doesn't collect nearly as many insects as my old VW bus.

    • Well, not much. Obviously that would only have the opposite effect anyway. Let's imagine every former hippie with a VW realizes they don't know what to do with their life, becomes a lawyer, midlife crisis, buys M3. Less bugs being killed by the new douche-mobiles and a standardized annual test that shows less bugs available for killing. Does not add up.

    • Don't think they were counting crabs.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by barakn ( 641218 )

      For fuck sake, the TFA summary specifically stated that "the research included vintage cars up to 70 years old to see if their less aerodynamic shape meant they killed more bugs, but it found that modern cars actually hit slightly more insects" and you had to scroll past a bunch of other comments stating the same thing just so you could post your inane nonsense.

  • relative size (Score:3)

    by hamburger lady ( 218108 ) on Thursday February 13, 2020 @06:30PM (#59725864)

    swallows and martins, birds that live on insects

    dang, those are some small-ass birds.

  • So here we read from those who tell us the end is neigh because climate change lowers the number of insects in Germany. Then there are those who tell us climate change will flood Germany with evil tropical insects (e.g. here [tagesspiegel.de]). I'll wait until those expert have settled on whether it is more or less insects that will kill us all.

    • Then there are those who tell us climate change will flood Germany with evil tropical insects

      Well that's just racist...

    • I'll wait until those expert have settled on whether it is more or less insects that will kill us all.

      Obviously beneficial insects will be reduced while nasty, dangerous ones will increase. Before climate change all the insects were wonderful.

    • So here we read from those who tell us the end is neigh

      No, I'm pretty sure they didn't rack horse splats.

  • Maybe perhaps the hefty death rate of stupid bugs in human infested area's have sharply accelerated the evolution of the insects and they are becoming increasingly intelligent. Enough per-chance that they have learned to avoid highways. The next thing we know the insects will be taking over, a joint strike where they destroy our ability to retaliate and attack us in droves.

  • ... for Greta Thunberg's plans to switch us all to a diet of bugs. Fortunately, the frequency of cars hitting cows is relatively constant. So we are ensured of a relatively secure supply of beef.

  • they're killing off the bugs
    https://youtu.be/Jm0eDTe4TYo [youtu.be] (@ end)

  • Comment removed (Score:3)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday February 14, 2020 @05:07AM (#59727334)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • It's a little bit sad that the only way to drive home the impact we humans are having on the environment is to point to evidence of bug splat counts - it's admitting that the average person has so little interaction with nature that they probably only see it through a car window (or when it bounces off their car)!

    • Well, to be fair, it's actually a pretty great, consistent way to get an idea of the population of the number of insects in an area. The splatometer's mounted on the license plate, which has a consistent size, and then you just need to look at the number of miles driven. It's a cheap and simple way to sample a large area; the other option would be thousands of grad students or whatever, and then you'd only be able to do it a few times a year.

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