General

The intensification of agriculture could have an impact on threatened populations of farmland birds due to its effect on one of their most important food sources, the sawfly. In the first genetic study of farmland sawflies in the UK, scientists at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee examined the genetic diversity and population structure of sawfly larvae at a number of sites in Scotland in order to gain a better insight into agriculture’s impact on sawfly abundance. Their study provided the first evidence for the presence of diploid males in UK farmland sawfly populations. Diploid males are usually sterile and are typically produced when an unusual form of sex determination, called complementary sex determination, operates in inbreeding populations. Their study suggests that farmland sawflies might be vulnerable to population decline due to low levels of genetic diversity and inbreeding.

Humans are modifying the global landscape at an unprecedented scale and pace. As a result, species are declining and going extinct at an alarming rate. I examined patterns of species’ declines in three different groups in relation to a number of anthropogenic variables. I found high losses of Canadian imperiled bird, mammal, amphibian and reptile species in regions with high proportions of agricultural land cover. However, losses of imperiled species are significantly more strongly related to the proportion of the region treated with agricultural pesticides. This is consistent with the hypothesis that agricultural pesticide use, or something strongly collinear with it (perhaps intensive agriculture more generally), has contributed significantly to the decline of imperiled species.

The State of Nature, a report published in May by a coalition of environmental charities, found that more than half our wildlife species are in decline. "We are heading for Armageddon in terms of nature. We are faced with a nightmare of no nature in large parts of southern England," says Mark Cocker, author of Birds and People, a monumental new account of the role birds play in human life. "The filigree of our lives, the things that make it fantastic – silver-washed fritillaries, nightingales, dunlin, water voles chomping away at the edge of the pool – are disappearing. We are faced with the most appalling loss." Cocker's passion echoes a rollickingly fierce speech to the Welsh assembly earlier this summer by Iolo Williams, the RSPB officer turned Springwatch presenter, which is still being passed around and debated among naturalists. In it, Williams recalled his childhood by the Vyrnwy river, currently imperilled by proposals for pylons and infrastructure to service vast wind farms. The Mid Wales countryside may still appear glorious but, according to Williams, it is bereft: water voles, trout, curlew and cuckoos are gone; so, too, are insects and hay meadows (Wales has lost 99% of its hay meadows since the second world war). On the moors, alien conifers have been planted. "It's like going and looking at war graves. Every single tree is a death-knell, a nail in the coffin of that moor," said Williams. "We really are on the brink of disaster."

Under the EPBC Act more than 50 species of Australian animals have been listed as extinct, including 27 mammal species, 23 bird species, and 4 frog species. The number of known extinct Australian plants is 48. Australia’s rate of species decline continues to be among the world’s highest, and is the highest in the OECD.
The list of nationally threatened species continues to grow in Australia, with 426 animal species (including presumed extinctions) and 1,339 plant species listed as threatened under the EPBC Act. Furthermore, there is some evidence that the rates of recovery once a species has been listed as threatened, whilst it is difficult to determine in short time periods, may be particularly low. In a study conducted on 38 threatened species recovery plans across every state and territory, evidence of ongoing decline in populations was displayed in 37 per cent of cases.

Trichomonas gallinae is an emerging pathogen in wild birds, linked to recent declines in finch (Fringillidae) populations across Europe. Globally, the main hosts for this parasite are species of Columbidae (doves and pigeons); here we carry out the first investigation into the presence and incidence of Trichomonas in four species of Columbidae in the UK, through live sampling of wild-caught birds and subsequent PCR. We report the first known UK cases of Trichomonas infection in 86% of European Turtle Doves Streptopelia turtur sampled, along with 86% of Eurasian Collared Doves Streptopelia decaocto, 47% of Woodpigeons Columba palumbus and 40% of Stock Doves Columba oenas. Birds were more likely to be infected if the farm provided supplementary food for gamebirds. We found three strains of T. gallinae and one strain clustering within the Trichomonas tenax clade, not previously associated with avian hosts in the UK. One T. gallinae strain was identical at the ITS/5.8S/ITS2 ribosomal region to that responsible for the finch trichomonosis epizootic. We highlight the importance of increasing our knowledge of the diversity and ecological implications of Trichomonas parasites in order further to understand the sub-clinical impacts of parasite infection.

Dear Mr. President,
We write to highlight a very important concern: the negative environmental and economic impacts of outdoor uses of the EPA-approved neonicotinoid insecticides: imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, dinetofuran and acetamiprid. On April 29, the European Union voted for a two-year suspension on major uses of the three most common neonicotinoids: imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam. The decision came on the heels of comprehensive, peer-reviewed research conducted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which indicated that those three insecticides pose both acute and chronic hazards to honey bees and that significant gaps exist in the data needed to assess their safety. The EU decision signals the way forward for your Administration to suspend neonicotinoids in the United States.

A new review of insect pollinators of crops and wild plants has concluded they are under threat globally from a cocktail of multiple pressures, and their decline or loss could have profound environmental, human health and economic consequences. Globally, insects provide pollination services to about 75% of crop species and enable reproduction in up to 94% of wild flowering plants. Pollination services provided by insects each year worldwide are valued at over US$200 billion. The review, published on 22nd April 2013 in the scientific journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, was carried out by an international team of 40 scientists from 27 institutions involved in the UK's Insect Pollinators Initiative (IPI), a £10m research programme investigating the causes and consequences of pollinator decline. Dr Adam Vanbergen, from the UK's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) and science coordinator of the IPI, led the review. He said, "There is no single smoking gun behind pollinator declines; instead there is a cocktail of multiple pressures that can combine to threaten these insects. For example, the loss of food resources in intensively farmed landscapes, pesticides and diseases are individually important threats, but are also likely to combine and exacerbate the negative impacts on pollinators."

Great Britain is a small island, no more that 600 miles on its longest north/south axis from John O’Groats in Scotland to Lands End in Cornwall. Yet it has the most diverse geology, layer after layer of it laid down over the millennia. In other countries one might travel for 200 miles or even much more before the scenery changes in any way. Here 20 miles will do it, and the most obvious sign is what the old houses are built of. In Dorset where I live the cottages were built in chalk clunch or a mixture of flint and brick. 15 miles to the north and over the border in Somerset, the traditional building material is Hamstone. Travel another 15-20 miles and the houses are built in Blue Lias. It follows that there is a huge variety of soils with their accompanying flora and fauna, an abundant and joyful cornucopia of life. Or there was. Last month the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) published a report, State of Nature. 25 British organisations, dedicated to the study, conservation and preservation of all forms of life found here, pooled their information and expertise to produce this report on how nature is faring in this busy world of men. It makes grim reading. 60% of species, from the smallest insect or humble lichen to the large mammals and birds of prey, are in decline, some seriously so. 60%. And I feel impoverished.

Für Vogelarten, die auf der Roten Liste stehen, verschlechtert sich die Situation weiterhin. Das zeigt der neue Swiss Bird Index SBI®, den die Vogelwarte Sempach für die Arten der Roten Liste erstellt hat. Im Gegenteil: Der anhaltende Rückgang dieser Arten lässt sogar befürchten, dass die Rote Liste bei einer Neubeurteilung noch länger werden könnte. „Von den untersuchten 40 Arten zeigen 23 einen negativen Trend“, erläutert Verena Keller von der Vogelwarte. Die Rote Liste bezeichnet alle Brutvögel, die Gefahr laufen, aus der Schweiz zu verschwinden. Rote Listen sind Warnsignale für den Zustand der Natur. 40% der rund 200 in der Schweiz brütende Vogelarten stehen auf der Roten Liste. Der Anteil der gefährdeten Arten ist im Kulturland und in den Feuchtgebieten deutlich höher als etwa im Wald oder in alpinen Lebensräumen. Die Probleme für die Vögel der Landwirtschafts- und der Feuchtgebiete sind also besonders akut. Insbesondere eine wildtierfreundliche Landwirtschaft könnte eine markante Besserung bringen.