Study into catastrophic population decline for flying insects is UK’s most discussed scientific paper of 2017

Study into catastrophic population decline for flying insects is UK's most discussed scientific paper of 2017. A research project involving the University of Sussex detailing the catastrophic loss of insect populations on nature reserves has been named the most discussed journal article in the UK in 2017. New data has revealed that the project, a collaboration between University of Sussex biologist Professor Dave Goulson and colleagues in The Netherlands and Germany, was also the sixth most publicised article in the world this year. The study found the loss of bees, butterflies and other flying insects from within protected nature reserves has been even more severe than previously feared leading Prof Goulson to warn of an impending "ecological Armageddon". Entomologists collected data over the past 27 years in 63 different places within nature reserves across Germany and found flying insect populations had decreased by more than 75 per cent since 1989 and above 80 per cent in the height of summer. Professor Goulson, report co-author and Professor of Biology (Evolution, Behaviour and Environment) at the University of Sussex, said: "It's fantastic that this important paper has received so much interest in just a couple of months. "Catastrophic loss of insect life on this scale has such profound implications for the whole ecosystem.