"Insect biomass density: measurement of seasonal and daily variations u" by Adrien P. Genoud, Topu Saha et al.
 

Insect biomass density: measurement of seasonal and daily variations using an entomological optical sensor

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1-2023

Abstract

Insects are major actors in Earth’s ecosystems and their recent decline in abundance and diversity is alarming. The monitoring of insects is paramount to understand the cause of this decline and guide conservation policies. In this contribution, an infrared laser-based system is used to remotely monitor the biomass density of flying insects in the wild. By measuring the optical extinction caused by insects crossing the 36-m long laser beam, the Entomological Bistatic Optical Sensor System used in this study can evaluate the mass of each specimen. At the field location, between July and December 2021, the instrument made a total of 262,870 observations of insects for which the average dry mass was 17.1 mg and the median 3.4 mg. The daily average mass of flying insects per meter cube of air at the field location has been retrieved throughout the season and ranged between near 0 to 1.2 mg/m3. Thanks to its temporal resolution in the minute range, daily variations of biomass density have been observed as well. These measurements show daily activity patterns changing with the season, as large increases in biomass density were evident around sunset and sunrise during Summer but not during Fall.

Identifier

85146441614 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Applied Physics B Lasers and Optics

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-023-07973-5

ISSN

09462171

Issue

2

Volume

129

Grant

R21AI153732-01A1

Fund Ref

National Institutes of Health

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