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Data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the Pesticide National Synthesis Project, show that use of neonicotinoids in agriculture rose from about 150 metric tons (all imidacloprid) in the late 1990s and early 2000s to between 510 and 625 tons in 2004. From 2004 to 2007, these figures nearly doubled, and in 2012, according to USGS data, between 2,677 and 2,819 tons were used. Data for 2013 and 2014 are still preliminary but suggest the numbers have continued to rise.

Vermont is famous for its natural and mesmerizing landscape that includes a big forest. Unfortunately, a recent report has revealed the decrement of the bird population there. ABC News reported a sharp decline of 14.2 percent in the bird population over the last 25 years in the Vermont forest. The latest study has unveiled this crucial fact. Several rare and common bird species exist in the said forest. Among them, some species solely depend on the flying insects and they form a major portion of the bird population.

The River Irwell appears to have been polluted for a second time in three weeks. Countless fish and insects died following reports a pesticide which was poured down a drain and devastated a 25-mile stretch of the river from Rawtenstall into Manchester city centre earlier this month. Now a second incident has been reported on a section of the Irwell north of Bury. The incident has been reported to the Environment Agency. Mike Duddy, chief executive of the Mersey Basin Rivers Trust, said virtually no river life had survived the previous incident.

Surface water monitoring for pesticides in agricultural areas of California is one of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s (CDPR’s) key environmental monitoring activities. The Salinas, Santa Maria and Imperial valleys have previously been designated as high priority areas for long-term surface water monitoring due to high pesticide use. This 2013 study is a continuation of the agricultural monitoring project.

Pesticide occurrence was determined in two suburban surface waters in eastern Massachusetts, USA during 2009 and 2010. Out of 118 collected samples, 45 samples showed detections of one or more target pesticides. Among the herbicides, 2,4-D was the most frequently detected and imidacloprid was the most frequently detected insecticide. Regulatory phaseout of chlorpyrifos and diazinon from residential use by 2004 was reflected in the results by the absence of chlorpyrifos detections and lower detection frequencies of diazinon.

UK BUTTERFLIES suffered their fourth worst year on record in 2016 with the majority of species experiencing a decline in numbers, a study has revealed. The annual UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, led by Butterfly Conservation, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, British Trust for Ornithology and Joint Nature Conservation Committee, revealed that some 40 of the 57 species studied recorded a decline compared with 2015.

Among a growing list of species in need of federal protections, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has placed the Knowlton’s cactus and Uncompahgre fritillary butterfly on the endangered species list. According to Fish and Wildlife, an endangered listing is any species in danger of extinction through all or a significant portion of its range, whereas a threatened listing is any species that is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future.

Honeybees -- employed to pollinate crops during the blooming season -- encounter danger due to lingering and wandering pesticides, according to a new Cornell University study that analyzed the bee's own food. Researchers used 120 pristine honeybee colonies that were placed near 30 apple orchards around New York state. After allowing the bees to forage for several days during the apple flowering period, the scientists examined each hive's "beebread" -- the bees' food stores made from gathered pollen -- to search for traces of pesticides.

The population of the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), a species once common in Missouri caves, dropped from 2,684 in 2015 to only seven last winter, which could lead to a "domino effect" on the food chain and cave ecosystems, conservation officials said. The Missouri Department of Conservation surveyed more than 300 caves and mines in the winter and found the alarming results when compared with surveys of 375 caves and mines in 2015, The Columbia Missourian reported (http://bit.ly/2p7bypK ). Shauna Marquardt, a biologist with the U.S.

A 15-mile stretch of the River Irwell has been poisoned after a suspected pollution incident. Conservation experts say all invertebrates along the waterway from Rossendale to Radcliffe, via Bury, have been 'wiped out', possibly by the dumping of a harmful pesticide. The vast majority of the bugs have also been wiped out from Radcliffe to Manchester city centre. An investigation has been launched by the Environment Agency after the incident was reported to the watchdog by the Mersey Basin Rivers Trust, which monitors the Irwell.