Summary

Insects are essential components of ecosystems. Among other things, they decompose organic matter, pollinate a large part of plants and serve as food for many other animals. They thus generate many services, such as pollination of crops or biological pest control, which we use every day and on which we depend. The currently available data indicate a serious loss of this most speciesrich animal class, both in terms of species numbers as well as with regard to population sizes. Due to close ecosystem links, this loss also has a direct impact on the population development of other animal and plant species as well as on the condition of ecosystems in general. The decline is the result of complex, often cumulative influencing factors, whereby the widespread and increasing impoverishment of landscape structures as well as the input of nutrients and pesticides plays an essential role.

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