Declines in an abundant aquatic insect, the burrowing mayfly, across major North American waterways Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States

The annual appearance of massive mayfly swarms is a source of public fascination and spectacular natural phenomenon that plays a key role in regional food webs. Alarming reports of insect declines motivate efforts to uncover long-term and large-scale invertebrate population trends. Monitoring aquatic insect abundance across ecosystems continues to be logistically infeasible, leaving the vulnerability of these communities to intensifying anthropogenic impacts unknown. We apply radar remote sensing to quantify aquatic insect abundance at scales that have been previously impossible, revealing persistent declines in biomass flux from aquatic to terrestrial habitats. As ecological indicators, these losses may signal deterioration in water quality and, if current population trends continue, could cascade to widespread disappearance from some of North America’s largest waterways.