New radar technology could be critical for tracking pollinators
New radar technology will use 'wingbeat signatures' to identify pollinator species.
A new radar-based technique could assist global conservation efforts in tracking and identifying pollinators.
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have developed the new radar-based technique that could address a critical gap in global conservation efforts by transforming the identification and tracking of the insects that are actually responsible for pollinating plants.
While declining pollinator numbers have received widespread attention, most monitoring efforts focus on insect numbers and not the diversity of species.
This distinction is vital as not all flower-visiting insects contribute equally to pollination. Identifying and tracking the variety of species that visit different plants, especially food crops and endangered flora, has remained a major scientific challenge.
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The new method was developed as a proof-of-concept under controlled lab conditions but is now being trialled in real-world, outdoor environments where insects can be monitored freely.
The system uses detailed analysis of insect ‘wingbeat signatures’, derived from radar reflections of millimetre-wave electromagnetic waves, which can distinguish species with high precision.
This will enable researchers to pinpoint which insects are genuinely acting as pollinators in real time, rather than simply passing through an area. The system offers the potential to then track the numbers of various species across discrete time periods to provide a more accurate assessment of how those species are faring.
“Crucially, the approach means we can accurately identify different species, even telling apart very closely related insects. That is very hard to do visually, or via other existing technological tools,” explained Trinity’s Professor Ian Donohue, senior author of the research article that has just been published in the international journal PNAS Nexus.
Continuing, Mr Donohue said: “This technique can also operate cheaply and effectively over a small spatial range, making it particularly suited to studying insect activity directly in and around flowers.”
This could have major implications for conservation and agriculture. Identifying important pollinators in different habitat types at different times of year could benefit policymakers and scientists to help create targeted conservation strategies and help improve ecosystem restoration efforts.
Jane Stout, TCD's vice president for biodiversity & climate action, and another senior author of the research, said: “The need for such innovation is urgent as pollinator populations continue to decline across Europe, including in Ireland, where even common species are showing worrying downward trends.”
She highlighted that the EU Red List of Bees (2025) report 10% of assessed wild species of bees now threatened with extinction, over double what was identified at risk in 2014.
“Meanwhile, Ireland’s National Biodiversity Data Centre reports a 3.5% annual decline in bumblebee populations since 2012,” Professor Stout said.
Looking ahead, the team now plans to increase the insect radar signature database to include more species and seeks to detect changes in insect behaviour by analysing alterations in wing-beat patterns, which may be caused by temperature or humidity changes.
The system can be integrated into emerging millimetre-Wave communication and sensing infrastructures, which could allow for scalable, networked, continuous biodiversity monitoring.
