BERLIN (AP) — On a green strip between Berlin’s Natural History Museum and a busy street, bees move quickly among flowers while a ladybug scours an aphid-ridden leaf and insects crawl.
Gardens, balconies, verges, fields, woods and wild areas across Germany will be the setting for this year’s “insect summer,” now in its seventh year, organized by the country’s Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, or NABU. The environmental group invited people to spend an hour counting the insects they see within 10 meters (33 feet).
“We saw that some insects that normally only occur in the south may be spreading further north,” including the violet carpenter bee, says Laura Breitkreuz, a biodiversity and entomology expert at NABU, describing this as a sign of progress. of Climate Change and warmer temperatures.
Over time, people seem to recognize more insects — a key goal of the citizen science project, which is not intended to provide precise scientific monitoring but can provide researchers with information about trends and unexpected insights.
Insects They are an essential element of ecosystems, crucial for pollination, food chains and keeping soil productive. But from bees to butterflies, insect populations have been in decline in recent decades – a decline often attributed to human causes such as the use of harmful chemicals, the destruction of natural habitats and climate change.
Breitkreuz points to people’s lack of knowledge about “what’s crawling outside their door” as a contributing factor. “It’s really important for us to show people how important, fantastic and interesting insects are,” she says.
Organizers have prepared a form and mobile app to help people identify and report sightings of bedbugs and lacewings during this year’s two bug count events. They run from May 31 to June 9 and August 2 to 11, giving insect counters a chance to see what’s flying and crawling in different seasons. No equipment is required to participate.
