75% of the flying insects on protected lands in Germany seem to have died over the past 27 years.Researchers aren't sure what's responsible for the decline, but say climate change probably isn't to blame.Bird populations are now also on the decline.Bugresearchers in Germany are puzzled.New data suggeststhe total population of flying insects there has declined a whopping 75% in the past 27 years. And no one knows why.A study released Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONEdetails a longitudinal study by German researchers to measure "flying insect biomass"the weight of all flying bugs in 63 protected spots around the country.Thescientists surveyed places like dunes, grasslands, and forests, usingtrapping tents to collect over 118 pounds of bugs over the 27 year period. They were expecting to find somepopulation decreases, but this extreme decline, they said, is "alarming".The most recent Living Planet Index (which measures biodiversity and populationtrendsin fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals around the world) suggested that wildlife abundance onEarth decreased by as much as 58%between1970and 2012. Butterfly, bee, and moth populations havepreviously been shown to be in declineacross Europe.But this widespread insect deathstruck the researchers as extreme.At the peak of summer heat, when there are usually more bugs out than in the spring and fall,thedropwas evenmore pronounced, and bug counts were down 82%, that's 7% more than the averagedecline over the 27-year period.The lack of insects, of course, alsoproblematic for small critters who eat flying bugs and has ripple effects up the food chain. A majority (roughly 80%) of plants rely on insects for pollination, and birds gobble them for sustenance. German birds are feeling the squeeze on their food supplynew researchpublished Thursday shows that Germanylost 15% of its non-endangered bird population in the past 12 years.The researchers aren't sure what's causing this precipitous fall. Across the diverseswath of German habitats studied, all spots saw similar declines, suggesting the decrease had nothing to do with landscape changes.And the scientists don't thinkshiftsin weather, land use, or climate change are valid explanations either. If anything,rising global temperatures should increase bug populations, the authors argue, because insect biomass is "positively related" to temperature, according to their models. Other expertshave pointed out, however, that not all bugs thrive on a warming Earth. The Washington Post reports that an especially warm springcould bring some bugs (like bees) out early,only tostarve when there's not enough food.But the German researchers are zeroing in on one possible explanationfor their findings:"Pesticide usage, year-round tillage, increased use of fertilizers and frequency of agronomic measures... may form a plausible cause," theywrote.More research is needed to know the role the agricultural industry is playing, but the German Farmer's Union is alreadyplaying defense. The association's secretary general,Bernhard Krsken, told Deutsche Wellethat "considering that the insect count was done exclusively in protected habitats, this shows that it would be premature to quickly point at agriculture."Regardless of the cause, scientists worldwide have been sounding the alarmabout declining insect populations for months."If you're an insect-eating bird living in that area, four-fifths of your food is gone in the last quarter-century, which is staggering," Dave Goulson, an ecologist at the University of Sussex, told Science Magazineearlier this year. "One almost hopes" the German trend isunique, he said, and not reverberating around the globe.SEE ALSO:Insects could be a much more lucrative industry in the US if Americans moved past their aversion to bugsJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: There are 950,000 species of insects on Earth ' but a new discovery has scientists stumped
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