General

The very same pesticides accused of causing massive declines in honeybee populations are just as culpable in the loss of songbirds, finds a new report published by the American Bird Conservancy. The pesticides in question, neonicotinoids, are based on nicotine, a natural insecticide, which causes paralysis and, eventually, death in both insects and non-target animals, such as honeybees and songbirds. Introduced in the early 1990s, neonicotinoids are now the most widely used insecticides in the world. And that popularity carries a heavy burden, the report found. After analyzing more than 200 studies conducted by both independent and industry-funded scientists, the authors called for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban these pesticides' use until a more thorough investigation into their safety is conducted. "A single corn kernel coated with a neonicotinoid can kill a songbird," said Cynthia Palmer, coauthor of the report and pesticides-program manager for the conservancy, in a statement accompanying the report. "Even a tiny grain of wheat or canola treated with the oldest neonicotinoid—called imidacloprid—can fatally poison a bird. And as little as 1/10th of a neonicotinoid-coated corn seed per day during egg-laying season is all that is needed to affect reproduction."

Since 2009 I've been writing about the plight of beleaguered honeybees due to toxic chemicals; over five billion pounds of insecticides -- one third of them are lethal neonicotinoids (neonics) thrust into our biosphere each year. Neonics are a neuro-active insecticide fashioned after nicotine, neonics poison nerves and prevent acetylcholine from enabling neurons to communicate with each other. Over 10 million commercial beehives have died since 2008 -- this is an epic worldwide problem. My colleague Dr Henk Tennekes reported the deadly effects of neonics on both soil organisms and their 'knock-on-effects' causing starvation to meadow birds and their predators Goshawks as well as contaminating waterways for many years thereafter across Western Europe. It seems that his thorough research was blatantly disregarded elsewhere around the globe by feckless government regulatory bodies. An intrepid Dr Christy Morrissey of the University of Saskatchewan set out to investigate just how wide spread the effects of neonics were across the prairies of Western Canada. Eighty to 90 percent of the wetlands she studied were contaminated with these odious poisons, which remain in toxic concentrations within the waterways for years. She too found 'knock-on-effects' in soils extending up the food chain, which reduced populations of many animals. Earthlings are knowingly annihilating the exquisite tapestry of life or Earth's biodiversity. The strength of an ecosystem depends upon the diversity of species. By killing biodiversity, we are killing ourselves; and it's happening very quickly, globally. Dr Morrissey asked some poignant questions about the food we currently produce on our globe: "Is that the cost, no birds? Or having no butterflies? Or having no bees?"

Zum ersten Mal in Deutschland ist in den "Berichten zum Vogelschutz" des Deutschen Rats für Vogelschutz (DRV) eine Rote Liste wandernder Vogelarten für Deutschland veröffentlicht worden. Bisher existierte die Rote Liste nur für in Deutschland brütende Arten, ohne dabei die 500 Millionen durchziehenden oder überwinternden Gastvögel zu berücksichtigen. Ein Viertel aller Zugvogelarten sind demnach in ihrem Bestand gefährdet. Die neue Rote Liste zeigt die immense internationale Bedeutung Deutschlands für Gastvogelarten wie die Brandgans, die Samtente oder den Knutt auf, aber auch die Abhängigkeit der nationalen Zugvogelbestände von effektivem internationalem Schutz. NABU und sein bayerischer Partner Landesbund für Vogelschutz (LBV) fordern daher die vollständige Umsetzung der europäischen Vogelschutzrichtlinie und eines UN-Abkommens zum Schutz wandernder Vogelarten, der Bonner Konvention.

The number of officially endangered species in Turkey now stands at 179, according to a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Major threats to wildlife include illegal hunting, pollution and overbuilding. Tolga Baştak, president of WWF-Turkey, sent a press release to Turkish media on Monday in honor of World Wildlife Day, established by the UN General Assembly last December to “celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that conservation provides to people.” Baştak stated that wildlife in Turkey is in need of human protection because it “is increasingly trapped in confined spaces as human domains expand.” Cranes, dolphins, grouper fish, reed cats and sea turtles are among the most endangered species in Turkey, the report says.

Der Dinkelberg hat im vergangenen Vierteljahrhundert deutlich Federn gelassen: Der Bestand der Vogelarten ist extrem zurückgegangen und der Zustand der Streuobstwiesen sehr schlecht. Das hat eine vom Landkreis in Auftrag gegebene Kartierung von Minseln und Eichsel samt Umgebung ergeben. Auch im Markgräflerland sind Vogelarten gefährdet.

To minimize risks of cancer and other chronic diseases, a healthy diet includes lots of fruits and vegetables. Growing many of these foods requires pollination by bees, but bees are dying en masse – this is called “colony collapse.” Top of the list of suspect causes is a group of chemicals known as neonicotinoid (literally “new, nicotine-like”) insecticides. Canadian beekeepers, such as those in Ontario, see ample evidence that these insecticides kill bees. Neonicotinoids don’t stay in one place – they are mobile in the environment, and pollinators ingest the pesticide from pollen and water. Henk Tennekes and Pierre Mineau, have demonstrated falling insect and associated bird populations with current use of neonicotinoids in Europe and North America respectively. Neonicotinoids degrade very slowly (breakdown products persist for years), and thus are continually building up in the environment, with some breakdown products even more toxic than the original chemical. Breakdown is very complex, as illustrated by Bayer’s information on imidacloprid. According to the US National Toxicology Program summary, the breakdown product, 2-chloropyridine, has no known environmental breakdown pathway, is very stable, is mutagenic, and has the characteristics of a carcinogen. Every molecule of the pesticide creates a molecule of 2-chloropyridine.

The endangered birds include the Great Indian Bustard, Siberian Crane, White backed Vulture and Red-headed Vulture, said a report of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) updated till December 2013. The other birds in the revised list are Baer's Pochard, Forest Owlet, Bengal Florican, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Sociable Lapwing, Jerdon's Courser, Whitebellied Heron, Slender-billed Vulture, Indian Vulture, Himalayan Quail and Pink-headed Duck. The Siberian Crane, one of the longest migratory crane species, visits the Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan during winter. It used to travel 3,500 miles every winter to the park but has been missing in the last few years. Similarly, other migratory birds from other parts of the world, which come to India during winter have declined, said a BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) official.

Researchers looked at data going back thirty years and found that this effect has remained stable over time and shows no signs of decreasing. ‘Our study has shown that organic farming, as an alternative to conventional farming, can yield significant long-term benefits for biodiversity,’ said Sean Tuck of Oxford University’s Department of Plant Sciences, lead author of the study. ‘Organic methods could go some way towards halting the continued loss of diversity in industrialised nations.’ For pollinators such as bees, the number of different species was 50% higher on organic farms, although it is important to note that the study only looked at ‘species richness’. ‘Species richness tells us how many different species there are but does not say anything about the total number of organisms,’ said Mr Tuck. ‘There are many ways to study biodiversity and species richness is easy to measure, providing a useful starting point. Broadly speaking, high species richness usually indicates a variety of species with different functions. Taking the example of bees, species richness would tell us how many different species of bee were on each farm but not the total number of bees.’