Benchmark studies of insect populations are increasingly relevant and needed amid accelerating concern about insect trends in the Anthropocene. The growing recognition that insect populations may be in decline has given rise to a renewed call for insect population monitoring by scientists, and a desire from the broader public to participate in insect surveys. However, due to the immense diversity of insects and a vast assortment of data collection methods, there is a general lack of standardization in insect monitoring methods, such that a sudden and unplanned expansion of data collection may fail to meet its ecological potential or conservation needs without a coordinated focus on standards and best practices. To begin to address this problem, we provide simple guidelines for maximizing return on proven inventory methods that will provide insect benchmarking data suitable for a variety of ecological responses, including occurrence and distribution, phenology, abundance and biomass, and diversity and species composition. To track these responses, we present seven primary insect sampling methods—malaise trapping, light trapping, pan trapping, pitfall trappings, beating sheets, acoustic monitoring, and active visual surveys—and recommend standards while highlighting examples of model programs. For each method, we discuss key topics such as recommended spatial and temporal scales of sampling, important metadata to track, and degree of replication needed to produce rigorous estimates of ecological responses. We additionally suggest protocols for scalable insect monitoring, from backyards to national parks. Overall, we aim to compile a resource that can be used by diverse individuals and organizations seeking to initiate or improve insect monitoring programs in this era of rapid change.

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昆虫监测和基准测试的标准和最佳实践

随着对人类世昆虫趋势的日益关注，对昆虫种群的基准研究变得越来越重要和需要。越来越多的人认识到昆虫种群可能会下降，这引起了科学家对昆虫种群监测的重新呼吁，以及更广泛的公众参与昆虫调查的愿望。然而，由于昆虫种类繁多，数据收集方法多种多样，昆虫监测方法普遍缺乏标准化，数据收集的突然和无计划扩展可能无法满足其生态潜力或保护需求。没有对标准和最佳实践的协调关注。为了开始解决这个问题，我们提供简单的指南，以最大限度地提高经过验证的清单方法的回报，这些方法将提供适用于各种生态响应的昆虫基准数据，包括发生和分布、物候、丰度和生物量，以及多样性和物种组成。为了跟踪这些反应，我们提出了七种主要的昆虫采样方法——不适诱捕、光线诱捕、平底诱捕、陷阱诱捕、跳动床单、声学监测和主动视觉调查——并在突出模型程序示例的同时推荐标准。对于每种方法，我们讨论了关键主题，例如推荐的采样空间和时间尺度、要跟踪的重要元数据以及生成生态响应的严格估计所需的复制程度。我们还建议了可扩展的昆虫监测协议，从后院到国家公园。总的来说，我们的目标是编制一种资源，供寻求在这个快速变化的时代启动或改进昆虫监测计划的不同个人和组织使用。