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Built on a fragile balance of predators and prey, Australia's various ecosystems are highly susceptible to change. When human intervention consistently alters an ecosystem, this balance can be upset, seriously threatening the biodiversity. While all species are important to an ecosystem, 'keystone' species are particularly vital. These are often top predators such as crocodiles, because of the role they play in controlling prey. The southern cassowary, however, is also a keystone species as it spreads the seeds of as many as 238 species of plants in northern Queensland. "Importantly, research clearly shows that biodiversity contributes significantly to our survival, well-being and enjoyment of life, so when we lose species at the rates that we're currently witnessing, we should be gravely concerned," says Dr Euan Ritchie an ecologist at Deakin University in Melbourne. "Losing any one species is a tragedy, but what is even more concerning is the loss of a species' ecological role following its extinction," says Euan. "If we were to lose dingoes, as an example, we also lose their ability to control pest species such as foxes and cats, and overabundant herbivores, [like] pigs, goats and kangaroos, which has widespread and often negative impacts across the whole system."

The orange-bellied parrot (Neophema chrysogaster) has a history as colourful as its feathers. The bird was first described by ornithologist John Latham in 1790. He gave it the specific name, chrysogaster, Ancient Greek for 'golden belly'. It has previously been known as the Orange-breasted Parrot - a name given to the Orange-bellied Parrot in 1926 by the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union or RAOU (now Birdlife Australia) when the word 'belly' was considered inelegant. The orange-bellied parrot is also one of Australia's most endangered birds, listed as ''critically endangered'' - one step above ''extinct''. There are fewer than 50 in the wild. Every summer the birds breed in south-west Tasmania. There they are met by a recovery team which monitors them, provides feed and maintains nest boxes. In colder months the parrots, one of only two species of parrot which migrate , go to the saltmarshes of Victoria and South Australia. The diet consists of seeds and berries of small coastal grasses and shrubs. Australia has one of the worst extinction records in the world. When a plant or animal is put on the national threatened species list a recovery plan is supposed to be drawn up. Often one is not, nor is there a guarantee funding will exist to enact any plan. Conservation biology expert at the Northern Territory's Charles Darwin University, professor John Woinarski, says it is almost impossible to work out what is spent on recovering threatened species each year. ''But the likelihood is that it has been decreasing in the last one to two decades, whereas the problem is becoming greater,'' he said.

Mammals, along with birds, reptiles and amphibians, are an extremely small percentage of all biodiversity (~0.4%). Invertebrates on the other hand, make up the vast majority of biodiversity (~80%) but feature such unloved creatures as leeches, parasitic worms, spiders, snails, lice and aphids. The most insidious threat to invertebrates is that we haven’t documented their diversity. For most invertebrate groups, we don’t know what species are out there and therefore struggle to identify those that are threatened. The specific consequences of neglecting invertebrates in land management are largely unknown. But these creatures perform key functions within ecosystems, from pollination to controlling population explosions of other species of plant and animal. Invertebrates recycle waste; without dung beetles for example, we would be hip-deep in manure. Pollination by insects helps plants cross-pollinate and produce viable seeds, resulting in fruit, grains (such as wheat and canola) and honey. Without invertebrate pollination we would lose countless species of plants including the majority of orchids. Invertebrates provide a vast food supply for the survival of other invertebrates (spiders, scorpions, tiger beetles), vertebrates (lizards, frogs, birds, bats, fish, insectivorous mammals) and some plants (carnivorous plants). There has even been talk of edible insects being introduced to the western diet for their health and environmental benefits. As the famous entomologist EO Wilson notes, invertebrates are “the little creatures that run the world”; without them, all life “would mostly disappear … within a few months”.

Rachel Carson described her fears about the use of systemic insecticides like neonicotinoids 50 years ago when she wrote Silent Spring. Now, we are witnessing first-hand as her predictions become a reality: “The world of systemic insecticides is a weird world, surpassing the imaginings of the brothers Grimm… It is a world where the enchanted forest of the fairy tales has become the poisonous forest in which an insect that chews a leaf or sucks the sap of a plant is doomed. It is a world where a flea bites a dog, and dies because the dog’s blood has been made poisonous, where an insect may die from vapors emanating from a plant it has never touched, where a bee may carry poisonous nectar back to its hive and presently produce poisonous honey.” Compounding the problem is a shift away from integrated pest management (IPM) and agroecological practices, systems that, to varying degrees, mitigate the indiscriminate use of toxic chemicals. Industrial agriculture practices rely on pesticides whether they are needed or not, thus putting an unsustainable load of chemicals into the environment and adding weight to Carson’s frightening predictions. As one report notes, “Over the last 20 years or so, the shift in pest management has moved away from reactive to prophylactic. Now many fungicides, pesticides and herbicides are applied to the seeds before sowing. Application of the chemical before pest damage has occurred often involves routine spraying and pre-emptive treatments.”

Prairie chicken and grouse numbers are down sharply from the numbers of 2012, a wildlife biologist who monitors those populations on the Fort Pierre National Grassland says. Wildlife biologist Ruben Mares of the U.S. Forest Service said this year’s survey on the grassland’s Cedar Creek Monitoring Unit from April 29 through May 16 showed that the number of male prairie grouse sighted had declined significantly from the 2012 survey. Greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) were down 37 percent, from 393 males in 2012 to 246 in 2013. Sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus, previously Tetrao phasianellus), were down by 57 percent, from 82 males in 2012 to 35 in 2013.

All around him, even in a place as beautiful as the Little Qualicum River estuary, his office for 30 years as a biologist for the Canadian Wildlife Service, he sees the unravelling of "the web of life." "It's happening very quickly," he says. Registered Professional Biologist Neil Dawe has written over 80 papers on birds, ecology and the environment. He received Environment Canada's Regional Citation of Excellence Award for his work in co-founding and co-chairing the Brant Wildlife Festival. He received the Outstanding Service Award from the Federation of B.C. Naturalists and the Ian McTaggart-Cowan Award of Excellence in Biology from the Association of Professional Biologists of B.C. In 2006, he retired from the Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, after 31 years of managing National Wildlife Areas and Migratory Bird Sanctuaries on Vancouver Island. He is President of the Qualicum Institute: www.qualicuminstitute.ca.

Hundreds of thousands of pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) mysteriously disappeared from eastern and central South Dakota in the past year. Not enough chicks hatched this summer to offset the losses. The state Game, Fish and Parks Department left many South Dakotans stunned with its declaration of a 64 percent decrease in its annual brood survey, released Friday. In many places there seems to be fewer insects this summer, such as crickets and caterpillars that comprise young pheasants’ diets for the first month of life.

Some 700 species of freshwater fish in North America are in jeopardy, scientists from the U.S., Mexico, and Canada said today. The number represents nearly 40 percent of all freshwater species on the continent and is nearly double the 364 listed as “imperiled” in the previous 1989 study published by the American Fisheries Society. Researchers classified each of the 700 fishes listed as either vulnerable (230), threatened (190), or endangered (280). In addition, 61 fishes are presumed extinct. The new report, published in Fisheries, was conducted by a U.S. Geological Survey-led team of scientists from the United States, Canada and Mexico. “Freshwater fish have continued to decline since the late 1970s" director of the USGS. Groups of fish most at risk are salmon and trout of the Pacific Coast and western mountain regions; minnows, suckers and catfishes throughout the continent; darters in the Southeastern United States; and pupfish, livebearers, and goodeids, a large, native fish family in Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Nearly half of the carp and minnow family and the Percidae (family of darters, perches and their relatives) are in jeopardy, the USGS said in a press statement.

Environment Canada had conducted a water study in Saskatchewan on canola/ oilseed rape fields both last year and this year. They found Clothianidin in a large number of agricultural sites where Canola (oilseed rape) had been planted in 2011. The concentrations of residual Clothianidin in puddles and ditches were almost one thousand times the LD50 required to kill bees.Clothianidin concentrations ranged from 5.1 to 2280 ng/L. The average Clothianidin contamination of water was 162.9 ng/L. The scientifc presentation is attached.

Neonicotinoid insecticides have adverse effects not only on bees but also on freshwater invertebrates. An Eawag study published today in the journal PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science) shows that at least one of the insecticides in this class also has toxic effects on freshwater invertebrates. In this study, native freshwater shrimps (gammarids) were exposed to pulsed high and to constant low concentrations of imidacloprid. Peak concentrations typically occur when rain falls on farmland during or shortly after the application of insecticides; these soluble but persistent substances can then enter surface waters via runoff. Interestingly, pulses lasting no more than a day proved less harmful to the organisms than concentrations that were much lower but persisted for several days or weeks. While organisms transferred to clean water after pulsed exposure recovered relatively rapidly, constant exposure led to starvation after 2 to 3 weeks. This was because the organisms' mobility and feeding behaviour was impaired by the neurotoxin.