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Paulina Mena, an associate professor of biology, has been studying bees for over a decade, an obsession which stems from her undergraduate experiences at Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Chile. “I did my undergraduate degree in Chile, and decided to do bee stuff because Chile is a hot spot for bees. Bees like deserts; that is where they have diversified a bunch,” Mena said.

Fishermen are concerned with the decline in trout numbers in the Tukituki, Ngaruroro and Tutaekuri rivers, with drought, winter floods, low water flows and agricultural pollution no doubt contributing factors. A survey in the past season showed that 68 per cent of fish caught in the Tukituki were adult fish, and only 32 per cent were juveniles. The results from recent national fly-fishing competitions saw a drop from 700 fish caught to only 36 in the last three years. This is a very disturbing trend.

About two dozen residents and sportsmen gathered at Howard’s on the River Central Building in Pateros last Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017 to participate in a discussion of local wildlife issues – particularly steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) - with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) representatives. The balance of the two hour-plus meeting was devoted to the local steelhead fishery and its closure in the upper Columbia River system for the past two years.

The first bad news came in July, when the Game and Fish Department reported a 14 percent decline in the pheasant population index based on spring counts of crowing roosters. Going into breeding season, pheasant numbers were down anywhere from 6 to 10 percent in the state’s primary pheasant regions, Game and Fish said. Results from the department’s annual roadside pheasant survey in late July and August showed pheasants observed per 100 miles were down 61 percent from last year. Brood counts were down 63 percent, and the average brood size was down 19 percent.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature finds that 28 percent of reptiles are currently threatened with extinction. Though snake populations are notoriously difficult to assess, in the United States alone there are 14 snake species listed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as threatened or endangered. A 2010 study in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters found snake populations across five countries in widespread decline.

Numerous North American songbird populations are declining, and conservationists are not sure why – although 10 years of data indicate the reasons may be as varied as the birds themselves. Theories about why these bird populations are declining include reproductive issues and poor survival rates of adults, as well as possible changes in environmental conditions.

Henk Tennekes refers to last century’s fifties, wherein the Germans Hermann Druckrey (1904-1994) and his friend, Chemistry Nobel laureate (1939) Adolf Butenand (1903-1995), advocated in the international community for a risk-prevention policy of dose-effect research for all pesticides. They wanted to prevent irreversible effects of pesticides. On the other hand there was the French René Truhaut, who advocated for the acceptable daily intake as the risk-management strategy for pesticide allowance for practical use.

Today, at the conclusion of the High-level meeting dedicated to the follow-up to the Fipronil incident, chaired by Commissioner Andriukaitis, the Member States and the Commission agreed on 19 concrete measures which will reinforce the EU's action against food fraud. These measures will again be presented at the AGRIFISH Council on 9-10 October. Commissioner Andriukaitis welcomed today's achievements: "First of all let me say that I was extremely pleased to see such a high level of participation today.

The long, contentious debate over using a controversial pesticide to control pests threatening Willapa Bay’s multimillion dollar oyster industry may be resolved this year.The state Department of Ecology Tuesday released a draft environmental impact study of using imidacloprid to control the burrowing shrimp that undermine and smother oyster beds. Supporters and opponents likely will both find ammunition in the report, which draws a mix of conclusions. It says that using imidacloprid would:

While previous research in the UK has suggested that bees do not feed on oilseed rape, a new study shows it is the most important nectar source to honeybees while it is in flower. This must now be considered in future discussions on neonicotinoid pesticides, which are widely used on oilseed rape. Matthew Pound and student collaborators from Northumbria University in the UK analysed pollen from samples of honey, which they took from different times of the year to assess the bees’ changing preferences.