Insect monitoring for impact assessment of agricultural schemes
Objective insect data to measure the effect of schemes and subsidies on biodiversity.
Paying agencies and programme managers run schemes that are meant to strengthen biodiversity, from agri-environment-climate measures to eco-schemes under the CAP. The question that keeps coming back: does it work? The DIOPSIS insect camera measures on participating and reference fields at the same time, standardised and without field rounds.
From accountability to evidence
Biodiversity subsidies are increasingly judged on results. Manual insect counts are too expensive to do at scale and too variable to compare years. The DIOPSIS insect camera measures continuously and identically everywhere, so the effect of a measure becomes visible instead of assumed.
Design: measure versus reference
Place cameras on participants' fields and on comparable fields without the measure, and measure a season or longer at the same time. The Naturalis image recognition model identifies and counts the insects; you get counts, taxonomic groups and a biomass estimate per site and period. The same design has been used in research by Wageningen University & Research, among others; see the publications.
Little burden for participants
The camera runs on solar power and 4G, is placed in minutes and monitored remotely. Participating farmers do not have to record anything. Also read how farms and agricultural businesses use the camera.
Next step
For a pilot you lease cameras for a year; for a multi-year evaluation we agree a longer term. Contact us to discuss a design.
Related
Frequently asked questions
Which schemes lend themselves to impact monitoring with insect cameras?
Schemes with field measures that affect insects: field margins, herb-rich grassland, flowering cover crops, hedges and landscape elements. The camera measures the difference between fields with and without the measure.
How large should a sample be?
That depends on the variation between farms and regions and on the desired statistical power. We think along about a design with pairs of measure and reference fields spread over regions.
Who receives the data?
The client. Photos, counts and taxonomic groups are available per site and period through the web portal and can be shared with the researchers carrying out the evaluation.
Making the effect of a scheme measurable?
We think along about a sample of fields, reference sites and a design that can follow a scheme or pilot over several years.