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Hi Dave, others,
Haven't read it but was somewhat surprised as there are various guesses at the number of insects out there, estimated to account for >90% of all metazoan species (that is, not including unicells, bacteria etc). That's perhaps ~10 million insect species worldwide but only ~1 million so far described, so who is able to say anything concrete given the missing 9 million, or is even surveying the known 1 million? Seemingly done by selective sampling: a serious survey in the journal 'Science' in 2014 did conclude there has been about a 45% reduction in invertebrate numbers in the last 30 years, inversely mirroring the doubling of the human population. You can read a bit for free from the publicity dept of the last scientist author, of University College London:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0714/240714_invertebrate-numbers
which links to the original journal article in Science
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6195/401
where you can at least read the paper's Abstract.
Steve (Hfx)
________________________________________
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] on behalf of David & Alison Webster [dwebster@glinx.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 9, 2015 7:09 PM
To: NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: [NatureNS] Insect decline
Dear All, Dec 9, 2015
There is an article about declining populations of insects in the Dec.
2015 (Wildlife Issue) of Canadian Geographic. The article has an author
(Leslie Anthony) but oddly enough no title.
There are many vectors at play, and most are not mentioned, but the
effect of highway fatalities receives considerable emphasis. And the figures
quoted are based on bodies recovered; consequently a huge underestimate. I
suspect many are ruptured by abrupt pressure changes, flattened on impact or
swirled beyond the road margin.
Yours truly, Dave Webster, Kentville
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