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During the last 10–15 years, an increase of Clostridium botulinum associated diseases in cattle has been observed in Germany. The reason for this development is currently unknown. The normal intestinal microflora is a critical factor in preventing intestinal colonisation by C. botulinum as shown in the mouse model of infant botulism. Numerous bacteria in the gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) produce bacteriocines directed against C. botulinum and other pathogens: Lactic acid producing bacteria (LAB) such as lactobacilli, lactococci and enterococci, generate bacteriocines that are effective against Clostridium spp. A reduction of LAB in the GIT microbiota by ingestion of strong biocides like glyphosate could be an explanation for the observed increase in levels of C. botulinum associated diseases. In the present paper, we report on the toxicity of glyphosate to the most prevalent Enterococcus spp. in the GIT. Ingestion of this herbicide could be a significant predisposing factor that is associated with the increase in C. botulinum mediated diseases in cattle.

Two agrochemical companies are fighting back against an E.U.-wide ban on three common neonicotinoid pesticides. Syngenta Crop Protection, which manufactures and sells one of the compounds in Europe, announced yesterday that it has brought a legal case earlier this month before the Court of Justice of the European Union, based in Luxembourg. Bayer CropScience, another producer, has done the same, a company spokesperson tells ScienceInsider. In April, the European Commission decided to introduce a 2-year moratorium on the compounds—clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam—following reports by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) saying the substances pose an "acute risk" to honey bees essential to farming and natural ecosystems. The Dutch toxicologist Henk Tennekes infers that pesticide producers are ignoring compelling evidence implicating neonicotinoid pesticides in insect decline.

Regulatory decisions based on current risk approaches are flawed simply because the science underpinning the risk of chemicals is inappropriate in many cases. A fundamental problem is to use one methodology for all compounds, irrespective of their toxic mode of action in organisms. According to the theories of Druckrey and Küpfmüller, the character of a poison is primarily determined by the reversibility of critical receptor binding. Chemicals showing irreversible or slowly reversible binding to specific receptors will produce cumulative effects with time of exposure, and whenever the effects are also irreversible (e.g. death) they are reinforced over time; these chemicals have time-cumulative toxicity.This concept was validated by Druckrey and co-workers with genotoxic carcinogens, the action of which is described by what is now known as the Druckrey-Küpfmüller equation: c x t˄n = constant, where c = exposure concentration, t = median time to effect, and n is an exponent > 1, which reflects reinforcement of the effect over time. Using data generated by Sanchez-Bayo, Tennekes demonstrated that the Druckrey-Küpfmüller equation also described the toxicity of (non-genotoxic) neonicotinoid insecticides to arthropods. This discovery showed that the theories of Druckrey and Küpfmüller were generally applicable in toxicology and, perhaps even more importantly, that risk assessment procedures needed to be revised, because the risks of time-cumulative toxins had been seriously underestimated.

For more than 15 months, officials have tried to determine what sparked the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). They have identified bats with similar viruses in Africa and Eastern Europe, but had not yet found an exact match to MERS. In a report released published Aug. 21 in Emerging Infectious Diseases, an international team of doctors from EcoHealth Alliance and Columbia University's Center for Infection and Immunity pointed to the Egyptian tomb bat, an insect-eating bat that does not typically bite humans or come near human food supplies. Researchers collected about 100 fecal samples from seven species of bats living in three locations, veterinary epidemiologist Jonathan Epstein, of EcoHealth Alliance, explained to CBSNews.com. One of the bats was a perfect match for the MERS coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause conditions ranging from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which killed about 800 people during a 2003 pandemic.

The nine-spotted beetle is a ladybug beetle who gets her name from the nine spots on her wings. Until the mid-1970s, the nine-spotted beetle was one of the most common ladybug beetles. To the delight of farmers that welcomed the fact that these beetles ate pest insects such as aphids, nine-spotted beetles were prevalent on farms. However, they suddenly began to disappear in large numbers. Though the nine-spotted beetle was once common throughout the United States and in southern parts of Canada, other beetles such as the seven-spotted lady beetle and various Asian beetle varieties have moved into these areas, creating competition for food. Like the nine-spotted beetle, the invading beetles feed off the same insect food sources, including aphids, mites and leaf hoppers.

Kate Risely, Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) organiser at the British Trust for Ornithology, said "While many people are seeing Siskins and Lesser Redpolls in their gardens for the first time, others are noticing the decline in Greenfinches. Numbers of this common garden bird have been badly affected by the disease trichomonosis, particularly in London, the south-east and the south-west, where numbers have declined by 58%, 30% and 30% respectively since the start of the survey in 1994. These figures tell us exactly what is happening to the populations over one hundred of our bird species, and put into a national context the changes that people are seeing played out in their back gardens and on their bird feeders. We owe this information to dedicated volunteer birdwatchers across the country."

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.

The Ontario Beekeepers Association (OBA) is requesting support to ban neonicotinoid pesticides. Neonicotonoids have been implicated in widespread bee deaths across the province and over 150 peer reviewed papers have been published supporting this evidence. Meanwhile OMAF stats show less than 4% yield improvements from using seeds treated with neonics. As part of the OBA’s commitment to work with their agricultural partners as they advocate for the suspension of neonicotinoid pesticides, they have circulated an open letter from OBA president Dan Davidson to fellow farmers in Ontario (attached).

House Republicans appear poised to direct EPA to better assess the risks a controversial form of pesticide may pose to pollinators and possibly encourage the agency to take regulatory action, calls that may strengthen a push from Democrats and environmentalists for EPA to suspend some neonicotinoids until their risks to pollinators are known. In a draft report on a proposed fiscal year 2014 spending bill, House appropriators say new research suggests neonicotinoids increase bees' susceptibility to parasites and pathogens. The draft report also tasks EPA with adopting a comprehensive assessment of neonicotinoids' risks to pollinators and with taking "appropriate regulatory action to protect bees from pesticides" if necessary. The language in the House appropriations committee's draft report could open a new front in the broad push for EPA to move more quickly to address the controversial pesticides' risks to bees. The effort includes environmentalists' and food safety groups' federal lawsuit seeking bans on two neonicotinoids, as well as a House bill that Democrats introduced last month that would require the agency to suspend within six months the "most bee-toxic neonicotinoids for use in seed treatment, soil application, or foliar treatment on bee attractive plants" until further study is complete.

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.