General

Alarm as hundreds of fish die in Rome's river Tiber

Rome authorities continue to investigate the cause behind the mysterious death of hundreds of fish in the city's river Tiber on 30 May. Initial tests have proved inconclusive and further testing is underway, however police do not believe the phenomenon relates to deliberate illegal dumping of toxic material into the river. The capital's environment department is however working on the theory that the mass death of the fish relates to insecticides used in corn crops, abundant in farms north of Rome, reports online newspaper RomaToday.

Eight species of flora and five species of fauna are nearing extinction in the Punjab

Eight species of flora and five species of fauna are nearing extinction in Punjab. The once-common white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis) is critically endangered since 2000. Another endangered species is Indus River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica). Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) is another vulnerable bird species. Indian Rock Python (Python molurus) and Indian Roofed Turtle (Kachuga tecta) are also endangered. Among the endangered trees is ‘Seem’ tree (Tecomella undulata), an economically and pharmaceutically important tree.

De oorsprong van de Insectenapocalyps is te vinden in La Selva

La Selva is een strook intacte Costa Ricaanse jungle die beschermd is tegen ontwikkeling, specifiek voor gebruik door wetenschappelijke onderzoekers en docenten. La Selva wordt erkend als een van de meest productieve veldstations ter wereld voor tropisch onderzoek en publicaties. Het is een ongelooflijk waardevolle bron voor wetenschappers, en hoewel beschermd, is het niet ondoordringbaar.

Neonicotinoide lassen Fischbestand schrumpfen

Daran, dass unsere Insekten und damit auch unsere Vögel weniger werden, sollen hauptsächlich Pflanzenschutzmittel schuld sein. Jetzt haben Forscher aus Tokio bestätigt, dass sich Neonicotinoide auch im Wasser und damit auf Fische auswirken. Ein Team um Masumi Yamamuro von der Universität Tokio hat den japanischen Shinji-See über Jahrzehnte beobachtet. Der siebtgrößte See Japans liegt in der Präfektur Shimane, an seinen Ufern befinden sich Reisfelder.

Time-Dependent Toxicity Related to Short-Term Peaks of Contaminant Release

Short-term peaks of contaminant concentrations and flows go undetected at many minesites. Recent biological studies have shown that short peaks can contribute significantly to toxicity due to aspects like damage per unit of time, accumulating damage through time, damage at any concentration, temporally aligned or offset synergistic and antagonistic interactions, and slowly reversible or non-reversible uptake and binding of some metals and other elements.

Bayer attempts to discredit peer-reviewed study showing its products caused a Japan fishery to collapse

The May 2019 newsletter of the Saitama Ecosystem Conservation Society describes how, before the introduction of neonicotinoids in the 1990s, numberless brilliant red akiakane or autumn darter dragonflies could be seen around rice fields in the fall. Experiments by Japanese dragonfly expert Tetsuyuki Ueda of Ishikawa Prefectural University showed how the pesticides reduced the number of surviving dragonfly nymphs to a small fraction, and that the chemicals persist for years in the soil of rice paddy fields.

IUCN's new Red List reports alarming decline in global freshwater fish species

Freshwater fish species globally are under grave threat according to the latest edition of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List. In fact, over half of Japan’s endemic freshwater fishes and more than a third of freshwater fishes in Mexico were threatened with extinction, the list of threatended species released on July 18, 2019, said.

Die Forelle gibts schon seit Urzeiten – nun ist sie gefährdet

Der Schweizerische Fischereiverband kürt die Forelle zum Fisch des Jahres 2020. Er wolle damit darauf aufmerksam machen, dass der «beliebteste Fisch der Schweiz» bedroht sei. Die Gründe dafür und weitere spannende Fakten zur Ur-Schweizerin gibt’s hier.

Ein Ur-Fisch. Die Forelle gehört zu den Lachsfischen, deren erste Vertreter bereits zu Zeiten der Dinosaurier in den europäischen Flüssen unterwegs waren.

Imidacloprid led to a fishery collapse in Japan

In May of 1993, rice farmers living near Lake Shinji, in southwestern Japan, began widely using an insecticide called imidacloprid. Within the same year, populations of arthropods that form the base of the food web, such as crustaceans and zooplankton, began to plummet. By the end of 1994, two commercially important fish that depend on these creatures for food, eel and smelt, crashed as well. And as the use of imidacloprid and other neonicotinoids has grown over the years, the fish have never recovered.