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Study that asked people to count squashed bugs reveals worrying results

www.independent.co.uk

Study that asked people to count squashed bugs reveals worrying results

A project asking people to count squashed bugs on their car number plates suggests flying insects have declined.

The citizen science survey led by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife showed a 78 per cent decline in “bug splats” on number plates across the UK since 2004.

The conservationists warned the dramatic falls in flying insects were a “red flag” for the state of nature in the UK which should not be ignored.

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  • This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The citizen science survey led by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife showed a 78 per cent decline in “bug splats” on number plates across the UK since 2004.

    The conservation groups said insects pollinate crops, provide natural pest control, decompose waste, recycle nutrients and underpin food chains, and without them Earth’s ecological systems would collapse.

    But they are in decline due to loss and damage of habitats, climate change, pollution and pesticide use – with growing evidence these have caused significant drops in insect numbers in the UK and worldwide, the conservationists warned.

    They then submitted a photo and count details via the Bugs Matter app and the data was converted into “splats per mile” to make it comparable between journeys.

    Andrew Whitehouse, from Buglife, said: “The latest Bugs Matter data suggests that the abundance of flying insects in our countryside has dramatically fallen.

    Mr Whitehouse added: “Human activities continue to have a huge impact on nature – habitat loss and damage, pesticide use, pollution, and climate change all contribute to the decline in insects.

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