Understanding insect deaths and what we can do about it

by Elisabeth Niedermeier
Supervisor: Dr. Gesa Lüdecke

The global decline of insects has been a key political issue in the media in recent years, with environmental practices essential for maintaining the health of planet Earth and all of its human and nonhuman residents. Insects are immensely important for humans, so ensuring their survival is critical. Insects offer a variety of ecosystem services such as pollination, recycling of organic materials, and the formation of nutrient-rich soils. Our food production system also depends on the ability of insects to carry out pollination. By protecting insects, we can ensure long-term and sufficient food production for humans.

As insects tend not to gain the greatest degree of sympathy from humans, I chose this topic for my final project to provide them with a forum and to find out more about the causes and consequences of the decline in insect populations. Before doing my research, I didn't realize how much humans depended on insects and the degree to which they are threatened. Large-scale changes in land use, agricultural practices, environmental policy, as well as our daily consumption patterns are necessary to ensure the survival of insects. Often such problems seem too big and complex to us, which is why I wanted to develop an easy-to-implement instruction guide for how we can protect insects. In our seminars, we often spoke about how we can put into practice what we have read, discussed, and learned. We wanted to achieve changes with our actions. As the focus of my thesis, I developed a series of insect-friendly plant profiles. These plants can easily be planted on our balconies and in our gardens. The plants profiled were particularly suitable for temperate climates. I also explained the background of insect decline and why they are so important to humans.

In order to photograph a variety of suitable plants, I visited lots of different places in and around Munich, which made it clear to me how difficult it must be for insects to find food in cities and in such a densely populated country like Germany. In my search for motifs, the over-fertilized and far too frequently mowed meadows caught my eye more and more. Only a few interesting plants for insects grow here. Often these plants don’t even have the chance to develop flowers. English lawns are deserts for flower-visiting insects. I am all the more pleased now by lush flower beds, fields of wildflowers next to agricultural land, and by large flower pots in pedestrian zones. My final project is an eMagazine (in German), which can be downloaded here. Nothing can stop you from acting now!