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A recent far-reaching study of the world’s amphibians and reptiles finds that Florida is hotspot for environmental threats, with one of the highest concentrations of threatened reptiles in the world. More than 200 experts from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission collaborated to study a random sample of 1,500 of the world’s reptile species. Globally, one in five reptiles is facing extinction. The study also flagged the rapidly deteriorating plight of freshwater turtles, estimating that 50 percent of these animals are at risk of extinction. “People tend to assume that, since reptiles have thick, scaly skins, they’re pretty tough creatures that will do fine as the world changes. But in fact reptiles are quite sensitive to environmental change” said Adkins Giese, reptile-and-amphibian specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This new study confirms that reptiles are facing a global extinction crisis.” The Center is working to gain Endangered Species Act protection for more than a dozen imperiled reptiles found in Florida. In 2011 the group filed the largest-ever Endangered Species Act petition focused solely on protecting U.S. amphibians and reptiles. It also filed a 2010 petition seeking protection for hundreds of aquatic species in the Southeast, including many rare reptile species. These rare Florida reptiles include the Barbour’s map turtle (Graptemys barbouri), eastern ribbon snake (Micrurus lemniscatus), Florida Keys mole skink (Eumeces egregius egregius), Key ringneck snake (Diadophis punctatus acricus) and alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii).

Farmers often use hives full of honeybees to help pollinate crops. A new study published in Science has found that encouraging wild pollinators could be more effective. The decline of wild bees and other pollinators may be an even more alarming threat to crop yields than the loss of honeybees, the study suggests, revealing the irreplaceable contribution of wild insects to global food production. Scientists studied the pollination of more than 40 crops in 600 fields across every populated continent and found wild pollinators were twice as effective as honeybees in producing seeds and fruit on crops including oilseed rape, coffee, onions, almonds, tomatoes and strawberries. Furthermore, trucking in managed honeybee hives did not replace wild pollination when that was lost, but only added to the pollination that took place. "It was astonishing; the result was so consistent and clear," said Lucas Garibaldi, at the National University in Río Negro, Argentina, who led the 46-strong scientific team. "We know wild insects are declining so we need to start focusing on them. Without such changes, the ongoing loss is destined to compromise agricultural yields worldwide."

Two years ago, Danish farmer Ib Borup Pedersen thought an epidemic had broken out among his 450 pigs. Suddenly, his animals were suffering from chronic diarrhoea, eating less or developing stomach ulcers, while some of his piglets were born with disabilities and his boars displayed fertility problems. Something always seemed to be the matter. Not just with the pigs, but with the profits of his farming company as well. Due to the increasing number of unhealthy animals, his sales plummeted, while the expenses for vets and drugs kept rising. Until he asked himself the crucial question: what if it was the feed? Pedersen followed his farmer’s intuition and exchanged the new feed for his old recipe. And what do you know – the health problems disappeared within two days. What was the difference? The feed that sickened the animals consisted of imported genetically modified (GMO) soy, whereas the old recipe consisted of soy without GMOs and fishmeal. Other farmers have since confirmed the findings, published by Pedersen on 13 April last year, in the Danish farming magazine Effektivt Landbrug.

For several years, neurologists at UCLA have been building a case that a link exists between pesticides and Parkinson's disease. To date, paraquat, maneb and ziram — common chemicals sprayed in California's Central Valley and elsewhere — have been tied to increases in the disease, not only among farmworkers but in individuals who simply lived or worked near fields and likely inhaled drifting particles. Now, UCLA researchers have discovered a link between Parkinson's and another pesticide, benomyl, whose toxicological effects still linger some 10 years after the chemical was banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Even more significantly, the research suggests that the damaging series of events set in motion by benomyl may also occur in people with Parkinson's disease who were never exposed to the pesticide, according to Jeff Bronstein, senior author of the study and a professor of neurology at UCLA, and his colleagues. Benomyl exposure, they say, starts a cascade of cellular events that may lead to Parkinson's. The pesticide prevents an enzyme called ALDH (aldehyde dehydrogenase) from keeping a lid on DOPAL, a toxin that naturally occurs in the brain. When left unchecked by ALDH, DOPAL accumulates, damages neurons and increases an individual's risk of developing Parkinson's.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Francois Wakenhut, of the commission's environment directorate, said that "multiple causes" were responsible for rising bee mortality and the "collapse" of bee colonies. Calling for measures, he declared, "The clock is ticking and we need to act now." Wakenhut, head of unit for nature conservation and biodiversity, was speaking at a debate on "bee health in Europe", organized by the European bureau for conservation and development and parliament's intergroup on climate change and biodiversity. The official told the packed conference that it was important to stress the importance of insect pollination to the EU economy and general health. He said, "Bees face a disastrous decline in their numbers and there are multiple reasons for this." Several beekeepers attended the event and Peter Maske, president of the German beekeeping association, outlined some of the issues facing the industry. He said there was "clear evidence" that pesticides were a major contributor to bee losses, but another issue which needed addressing was the lack of professional beekeepers in Europe.

The quality and quantity of the data about the risk posed to humans by individual pesticides vary considerably. Unlike obvious birth defects, most developmental effects cannot be seen at birth or even later in life. Instead, brain and nervous system disturbances are expressed in terms of how an individual behaves and functions, which can vary considerably from birth through adulthood. In this article I challenge the protective value of current pesticide risk assessment strategies in light of the vast numbers of pesticides on the market and the vast number of possible target tissues and end points that often differ depending upon timing of exposure. Using the insecticide chlorpyrifos as a model, I reinforce the need for a new approach to determine the safety of all pesticide classes. Because of the uncertainty that will continue to exist about the safety of pesticides, it is apparent that a new regulatory approach to protect human health is needed.

EU agriculture ministers were set to vote on a European Commission proposal to restrict the use of three commonly used neonicotinoid insecticides in Brussels today (Monday, 25/02/13). But the vote has been postponed until 14-15 March. It is not clear why the vote has been delayed. However, it is understood the commission may be seeking to restructure the proposal amid reports that a blocking minority of countries, including Germany, Spain and the UK, had been seeking to derail the vote, citing gaps in the data. In contrast, France, the Netherlands, and Poland support a ban. One industry source told Farmers Weekly: "A number of member states have got concerns about the underlying basis (of the proposal) and it is believed that the commission has met with five or six member states to start looking at alternative proposals that are on the table." Syngenta UK spokesman, Luke Gibbs said the delay offered member states more time to look in detail at what is being proposed. "In our view, the existing proposal put forward by the European Commission is disproportionate and underpinned by a flawed and incomplete technical assessment," he said. Mr Gibbs believes the proposed action would not help bee populations which are being affected by a "wide range of factors". "We believe that a number of member states think similarly and are questioning whether restricting the use of this important tool for farmers would improve long-term outcomes for bee populations," he said. But German Green Party MEP Martin Häusling slammed the commission for the delay and accused the commission of "caving in to the chemical industry".

When Tim Davis moved to Marshall County 35 years ago, he would spend some of his free time hunting pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) and quail (Coturnix coturnix). As time passed Davis’ bird hunting expeditions became less successful, and about 10 years ago he stopped hunting quail and pheasant because he could rarely even find them. “They used to just be plentiful and everywhere. You could drive down any county road and you’d see pheasant and quail 35 years ago,” he said. Nowadays, Davis sees one or two quail or pheasant in an entire summer. During summertime he hears quail that are living on his property on the edge of Waterville but he does not bother them. “I just choose not to hunt them because I don’t think there are many left,” he said.

The residue of imidacloprid in the nectar and pollens of the plants is toxic not only to adult honeybees but also the larvae. Our understanding of the risk of imidacloprid to larvae of the honeybees is still in a very early stage. In this study, the capped-brood, pupation and eclosion rates of the honeybee larvae were recorded after treating them directly in the hive with different dosages of imidacloprid. The brood-capped rates of the larvae decreased significantly when the dosages increased from 24 to 8000 ng/larva. However, there were no significant effects of DMSO or 0.4 ng of imidacloprid per larva on the brood-capped, pupation and eclosion rates. Although the sublethal dosage of imidacloprid had no effect on the eclosion rate, we found that the olfactory associative behavior of the adult bees was impaired if they had been treated with 0.04 ng/larva imidacloprid in the larval stage. These results demonstrate that a sublethal dosage of imidacloprid given to the larvae affects the subsequent associative ability of the adult honeybee workers. Thus, a low dose of imidacloprid may affect the survival condition of the entire colony, even though the larvae survive to adulthood.

I am a retired (Emeritus) scientist with Environment Canada with over 30 years' experience in pesticide evaluation, risk assessment and ecological research. For approximately half of that time, I was the lead regulatory assessor for the risk of pesticides to wildlife in Canada. I have a special interest in the neonicotinoids in that they were of increasing concern to me when I retired less than one year ago. I continue to be involved in pesticide research and assessment as a consultant and have just finished a review of the neonicotinoids from the point of view of their impact on birds.This particular work was commissioned by the American Bird Conservancy. The specific point I wish to make concerns the exchange you were having with the representative of Bayer Crop Science during your 30 January session. Specifically, my comment is about the UK study showing a continuing increase in soil residues, which study Bayer dismissed as irrelevant because it involved a field where straw was reincorporated every year. Bayer's position was that, because straw is a valuable commodity, that study did not follow good agricultural practice and should not be considered. I respectfully submit that your committee missed an opportunity to address the fundamental insight provided by that study, whether or not the study followed usual agricultural practice and whether the price of straw does or does not make this scenario likely in the UK. The issue is that of systemic pesticides more generally. In my opinion, the real question that should have been asked is the following: What are some of the other agricultural conditions where plant material is reincorporated into the soil after taking up neonicotinoid insecticides? Are there other crops with neonicotinoid uses where this happens?