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The exposure effects of two endocrine disrupting pesticides (EDPs), mancozeb/MCZ and imidacloprid/IMI of the group dithiocarbamate and neonicotinoid respectively, on reproductive behaviors and secondary sexual characters have been studied in a seasonally breeding wildlife bird, red munia (Amandava amandava). Adult male birds were exposed to both the pesticides individually (0.25% LD50 of each) as well as co-exposed (MIX-I: 0.25% LD50 of each and MIX-II: 0.5% LD50 of each) through food for 30 d in preparatory (July–August) and breeding (September–October) phase of reproductive cycle.

In a recent study, we showed that the springtail Folsomia candida was quite sensitive the neonicotinoid insecticides imidacloprid and thiacloprid. This study aimed at determining the toxicity of both compounds to F. candida following exposure over three generations, in natural LUFA 2.2 standard soil. In the first generation, imidacloprid was more toxic than thiacloprid, with LC50s of 0.44 and 9.0 mg/kg dry soil, respectively and EC50s of 0.29 and 1.5 mg/kg dry soil, respectively.

A study by scientists at Madurai Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu, has found evidence that chronic exposure to organophosphate insecticides induces diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in both humans and mice. The researchers found that organophosphate-induced diabetes was mediated by gut bacteria. The results were published in the journal Genome Biology.

A new study led by scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey confirms the ongoing decline of amphibians around the world. While every part of the United States continues to experience a decline in amphibian populations, the major threats vary from region to region. The negative effects of pesticide use are especially pronounced east of the Colorado River, while human development and disease are driving the decline east of the Mississippi River. The latest analysis suggests amphibian populations are declining at a rate of 3.79 percent per year.

Despite a steady rise in the manufacture and release of synthetic chemicals, research on the ecological effects of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals is severely lacking. This blind spot undermines efforts to address global change and achieve sustainability goals. So reports a new study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Emma J. Rosi , a freshwater ecologist at the Cary Institute and a co-author on the paper, explains, "To date, global change assessments have ignored synthetic chemical pollution.

In a review of existing research, commissioned by a committee of the European Parliament, a group of European researchers has identified benefits of organic food production for human health. The researchers recommend the parliament to consider giving priority to certain organic production practices and their use also in conventional agriculture. This recommendation comes from a one-year study resulting in the report 'Human health implications of organic food and organic agriculture'. The experts list several advantages of methods used in organic agriculture that benefit human health.

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is one of nature's most awe-inspiring predators. Once an isolated cliff-dwelling hunter, these birds are now a high-flying slice of the natural world visible right outside our condos and skyscrapers. But 50 years ago, Canadian peregrine falcons were on the ropes. Once-common, their numbers had plummeted as a result of widespread DDT use. In the span of 10 years, it disappeared entirely from Ontario. It only began to creep back, bird by bird, in 1990.

Wildflowers are important as just one species can support a whole ecosystem from fungi and invertebrates, through insect-eating birds and small mammals, to birds of prey. They are key habitats for pollinators such as bees and butterflies, whose numbers have seen huge declines in recent years. There are almost 251,000 acres of rural road verges across the country that are home to 703 species of wild plants – 87 of which are facing extinction. Charity Plantlife says local councils are “cutting too much and too early”, depriving flowers of the chance to seed and reproduce.

A study published in SAPIENS revealed that out of 15,589 species threatened with extinction, 12% of them are bird species, 23% are mammal species are threatened, and 32% are amphibians. The first amphibian decline was documented in the 1960s. At present, the research revealed the average amphibian population decline has reached 3.79 % per year. As amphibian crisis persists across the United States, scientists are working continuously to come up with an emergency response to reverse their decline. Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the U.S.

In 2014, the first and most comprehensive look at the environmental causes of autism and developmental delay, known as the CHARGE study, found that the nearby application of agricultural pesticides greatly increases the risk of autism. Women who lived less than a mile from fields where chlorpyrifos was sprayed during their second trimesters of pregnancy, as Magda did, had their chances of giving birth to an autistic child more than triple.