Scientists Demand 'Paradigm Shift' After Study Shows 'Frightening' Decline of Insects and Spiders

Scientists behind a decade-long biodiversity study published Wednesday, which showed "frightening" declines of insects and spiders in German grasslands and forests, are calling for a "paradigm shift" in land-use policy.

"Current initiatives to address insect losses are overly concerned with the cultivation of individual plots of land and operate independently of one another for the most part," lead researcher Sebastian Seibold of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany said in a statement.

"To stop the decline, however, our results indicate that more coordination is needed at the regional and national levels," he said.