"The Grande Bouffe"... is over?
VielfaltLeben V
from 01. December 2022
A special exhibition as part of the project “Easy prey? Securing food
sources and habitats for endangered species of birds” of NHM Vienna in cooperation with BirdLife Austria.
A few years ago, many media outlets
reported on the publication of the so-called Krefeld study, which had found that insect biomass in Germany had declined, on
average, by an alarming 76% in the space of only 27 years. That is a catastrophic development not only for fauna and flora,
but also for humans, who depend on pollination by insects to a greater extent than many would think. Numerous studies have
since delivered striking corroboration of this trend.
As similar developments must be expected in Austria, the Natural History Museum Vienna and BirdLife Austria took action to counter the dramatic decline in insect populations at the local level with the cooperation project “VielfaltLeben V”, aiming to improve food availability for rare species of insectivorous birds. For nature is the greatest of all networks, and altering any one of its parameters will have manifold effects on other elements of the system, too: for instance, more insects mean more food for insectivores and, given a suitable habitat, this can help replenish populations of rare species of birds.
Conservation measures were therefore carried out in close coordination with landowners and conservation agencies at five selected sites in the regions of Tyrol, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Styria and Carinthia to keep essential areas hospitable to insects, and clear them of bushes and trees. This was done with great logistical efforts and sometimes unconventional means, such as using a helicopter to carry out conservation measures as gently as possible. At the same time, an insect survey on the project sites provided data on biodiversity and the population density of grasshoppers benefiting from the conservation measures; their projected population growth will significantly improve food availability for whinchats, curlews and other bird species.
A small-scale special exhibition in bird rooms 29, 30 and 32 of NHM Vienna features easily understandable texts, images and sounds, exploring the reasons for the decline in insect populations and its impact on birdlife. The exhibition presents the project and the measures taken, showing how they have changed the landscapes in question, and what fascinating species of animals and plants are flourishing as a consequence. Lifelike dioramas teach visitors about the riveting interactions between birds and their specific insect prey, as well as the places where this struggle for survival takes place - from the air and the water to orchard meadows and forests. Unusual hunting strategies are also featured in the exhibition. For young visitors, the public collection is turned into a supersized hidden object game, challenging them to discover the bird species depicted in the dioramas. Finally, “menus” for whinchats, common swifts, dippers and many other bird species serve to visualise their habitats and the insects they feed on, which are sadly increasingly sparse. “Menu no longer available” it says at the end - but that is what projects like VielfaltLeben V are working to prevent.
The project is carried out as part of the biodiversity initiative VielfaltLeben of the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) and receives funding from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management (BML) and the European Union. The mission of VielfaltLeben is to protect biodiversity in Austria.
As similar developments must be expected in Austria, the Natural History Museum Vienna and BirdLife Austria took action to counter the dramatic decline in insect populations at the local level with the cooperation project “VielfaltLeben V”, aiming to improve food availability for rare species of insectivorous birds. For nature is the greatest of all networks, and altering any one of its parameters will have manifold effects on other elements of the system, too: for instance, more insects mean more food for insectivores and, given a suitable habitat, this can help replenish populations of rare species of birds.
Conservation measures were therefore carried out in close coordination with landowners and conservation agencies at five selected sites in the regions of Tyrol, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Styria and Carinthia to keep essential areas hospitable to insects, and clear them of bushes and trees. This was done with great logistical efforts and sometimes unconventional means, such as using a helicopter to carry out conservation measures as gently as possible. At the same time, an insect survey on the project sites provided data on biodiversity and the population density of grasshoppers benefiting from the conservation measures; their projected population growth will significantly improve food availability for whinchats, curlews and other bird species.
A small-scale special exhibition in bird rooms 29, 30 and 32 of NHM Vienna features easily understandable texts, images and sounds, exploring the reasons for the decline in insect populations and its impact on birdlife. The exhibition presents the project and the measures taken, showing how they have changed the landscapes in question, and what fascinating species of animals and plants are flourishing as a consequence. Lifelike dioramas teach visitors about the riveting interactions between birds and their specific insect prey, as well as the places where this struggle for survival takes place - from the air and the water to orchard meadows and forests. Unusual hunting strategies are also featured in the exhibition. For young visitors, the public collection is turned into a supersized hidden object game, challenging them to discover the bird species depicted in the dioramas. Finally, “menus” for whinchats, common swifts, dippers and many other bird species serve to visualise their habitats and the insects they feed on, which are sadly increasingly sparse. “Menu no longer available” it says at the end - but that is what projects like VielfaltLeben V are working to prevent.
The project is carried out as part of the biodiversity initiative VielfaltLeben of the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) and receives funding from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management (BML) and the European Union. The mission of VielfaltLeben is to protect biodiversity in Austria.
