English

Organic farming is often promoted as a solution for counteracting the adverse impacts of agricultural intensification on biodiversity. However, it is unclear whether the biodiversity benefits derived from organic farming require an adoption of organic farming in its entirety (i.e. a systems-level approach) or whether the benefits derived are because of just a small subset of the associated management practices. Using bird survey data collected from kiwifruit orchards in New Zealand, we assessed whether orchards managed under an organic system support higher bird densities than those under integrated management systems. To determine whether biodiversity gains might also be achieved on non-organic orchards, we tested whether variation among kiwifruit orchards in the amount of (non-crop) woody vegetation cover, density of shelterbelts and toxicity of pesticide applications are better predictors of bird densities than management systems. Pesticide use and habitat composition variables were better predictors of native bird densities than management system, with native bird densities negatively associated with pesticide toxicity ranking and/or positively associated with woody vegetation cover.

They have entranced generations with the beauty of their songs and glimpses of their plumage. But today the sound of the linnet and the vision of a turtle dove are becoming increasingly rare experiences for visitors to the European countryside. Indeed, according to a survey, the chances of encountering any one of the 36 species of farmland birds in Europe - species that also include the lapwing, the skylark and the meadow pipit - are stunningly low. Devastating declines in their numbers have seen overall populations drop from 600 million to 300 million between 1980 and 2009, the study has discovered. The survey, done by the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (leaflet attached), also found that Britain has been one of the nations worst affected by losses to its farmland bird populations. In Europe the population of grey partridges has dropped from 13.4 million to 2.4 million, a loss of 82 per cent. These losses were described as shocking by the scheme's chairman, Richard Gregory. "We had got used to noting a loss of a few per cent in numbers of various species over one or two years. It was only when we added up numbers of all the different farmland bird species for each year since 1980, when we started keeping records, that we found their overall population has dropped from 600 million to 300 million, which is a calamitous loss. We have been sleepwalking into a disaster."

The ongoing investigation into honeybee deaths that struck hives across southwestern Ontario this spring has turned up a pesticide used to protect corn and soybean seeds. Thousands of dead bees were found in piles outside hives in early May, triggering an investigation by Health Canada and the province's agriculture and environment ministries. An agriculture ministry spokeswoman said Health Canada found residues of the insecticide clothianidin in 28 of 37 samples of bees from various sites.

France said it plans to ban a pesticide made by Swiss agro-chemical group Syngenta that is widely used to treat rapeseed crops after scientists suggested it could pose danger to bees. France intends to withdraw the permit of the Cruiser OSR pesticide used for coating rape seeds, pending a two-week period during which Syngenta can submit its own evidence, Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said on Friday. The decision was based on a report from French health and safety agency ANSES, which went along with recent scientific findings suggesting that a sub-lethal dose of thiamethoxam, a molecule contained in Cruiser, made bees more likely to lose their way and die.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has performed a comparison between the doses of several neonicotinoids tested in the studies from Henry et al. (honeybees, thiamethoxam) and Whitehorn et al., (bumblebees, imidacloprid) published in Science (2012) with exposure of bees, following the actual use of these neonicotinoids. A third study investigating sub-lethal effects on honeybees for clothianidin and imidacloprid was also considered (Schneider et al., 2012). Data of uses authorised in EU and data on residues in pollen and nectar were collected to compare the actual exposure of bees with the investigated doses. EFSA concluded that sub-lethal effects following the use of these active substances could not be fully excluded in worst case situations. The concentrations tested on bumblebees by Whitehorn et al. were in the range of the maximum exposure residues of imidacloprid in pollen and nectar. Overall, before drawing definite conclusions on the behavioural effects regarding sub-lethal exposure of foragers exposed to actual doses of neonicotinoids it would be necessary to repeat the experiments performed in the studies with other exposure levels or in other situations. Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe and the European Beekeeping Coordination (EBC) demand an immediate ban on these molecules by the European Commission. Attached is an article on the influence of Bayer Cropscience on Dutch policy makers (which appeared in the magazine "Vrij Nederland" on April 4, 2012)

Around the world, large-scale biomonitoring programs have provided extensive information about human exposure to a large number of environmental chemicals. As these programs extend to look at vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, fetuses, and the elderly, our knowledge of the widespread distribution of many of these chemicals continues to climb. However, the mere presence of a chemical in humans is not necessarily cause for concern. What is concerning is the increasing number of epidemiological studies showing associations between the concentration of these chemicals in the general population and adverse health end points. Although high exposures following accidental or occupational exposures to endocrine disruptors, industrial chemicals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals have shown striking effects, epidemiological studies suggest that low doses may also be unsafe, even for populations that are not typically considered “vulnerable.”

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a review of the risks posed by pesticides to honey bees, bumble bees and solitary bees (attached). EFSA has acknowledged enormous shortcomings and lacks of the actual risk assessment scheme: disorientation, larvae toxicity and long-term effects of pesticides are not evaluated before authorization is granted. All pesticides that are in use in the European Union have thus been authorized without any correct assessment and may thus be highly toxic for honeybees and other pollinators. Considering EFSA’s acknowledgment on the weakness of the assessment scheme of pesticides risks to bees and the increasing number of articles pointing at neonicotinoids and phenylpyrazoles as main culprits in honeybees disappearing, Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe and the European Beekeeping Coordination (EBC) demand an immediate ban on these molecules by the European Commission.

The European Union's top watchdog launched an investigation into whether the EU's executive has taken sufficient account of new scientific evidence on the link between certain pesticides and bee deaths. Last month, two scientific studies showed that even low doses of neonicotinoids could harm bumblebees and honeybees, interfering with their homing systems and increasing the chance of individual bees dying while away from the hive. European Union Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandou said he had opened an investigation after a complaint from the Austrian Ombudsman Board, who said the European Commission had failed to take account of the new evidence on the role of neonicotinoids in bee mortality. "In its view, the Commission should take new scientific evidence into account and take appropriate measures, such as reviewing the authorisation of relevant substances," said a statement from the EU Ombudsman's office. The ombudsman has asked the Commission to submit an opinion in the investigation by June 30, after which it will issue a report. Recommendations by the ombudsman are non-binding but are usually followed by the EU's institutions. The Commission said it had already asked the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) to carry out a full review of all neonicotinoid insecticides by April 30 and that it would take appropriate measures based on the findings. Attached is an article on the influence of Bayer Cropscience on Dutch policy makers (which appeared in the magazine "Vrij Nederland" on April 4, 2012).

Imagine for a moment, a world without insects... "Wonderful!", you say, "Finally I can explore the great outdoors unbothered by all those nasty creepy-crawlies! Picnics without ants! Apples without worms! Camping without mosquito bites! Paradise! Where do I sign up?" Before you get too excited, consider this. Without insects, our world would be a very different place. If insects didn't play their roles as pollinators and as food sources for other animals, our food supply and selection would be drastically reduced. As a result, you might have trouble putting together that "ant-free picnic" you were so looking forward to. Likewise, a pleasant camping spot might be difficult to come by in a world full of animal waste and dead plants and animals that would exist without insects to help break them down.