Co-author and University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum, a National Medal of Science winner, said, “Insect decline is kind of comparable to climate change 30 years ago because the methods to assess the extent, the rate (of loss) were difficult.”
Wagner said scientists need to figure out if the rate of the insect loss is bigger than with other species.
“The good news is, with the exception of climate change, individuals can do much to reverse insect declines,” Tallamy said in an email.
University of Delaware entomologist Doug Tallamy, who wasn’t part of the studies, said they highlight how the world has “spent the last 30 years spending billions of dollars finding new ways to kill insects and mere pennies working to preserve them.”
