General

Alarmierender Rückgang von Fauna und Flora in Europa

Eine Untersuchung eines erheblichen Teils der in Europa heimischen Fauna und Flora im Rahmen der Europäischen Rote Liste, die Teil der Roten Liste gefährdeter Arten der Weltnaturschutzunion (IUCN)™ ist, hat ergeben, dass ein großer Anteil Weichtiere, Süßwasserfische und Gefäßpflanzen jetzt als gefährdet einzustufen ist. Die Untersuchung von etwa 6000 Arten zeigt, dass 44 % aller Süßwasserweichtiere, 37 % der Süßwasserfische, 23 % der Amphibien, 20 % einer Auswahl von terrestrischen Weichtieren, 19 % der Reptilien, 15 % der Säugetiere und Libellen, 13 % der Vögel, 11 % einer Auswahl von xylobionten Käfern, 9 % der Schmetterlinge und 467 Arten von Gefäßpflanzen vom Aussterben bedroht sind.

Our gardens become feeding stations for bees, butterflies, bats, hedgehogs, birds and other wildlife provided you don't use pesticides

We grow flowers in our gardens for our own enjoyment. But colour and perfume are really the plants’ way of advertising themselves to insects. Sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen are bait to encourage insects to visit. In return, pollen is carried from one flower to another on their bodies so the flowers are fertilised. Bees are among the most beneficial insects for a garden. The best way to attract them to your garden is to provide them with some of their favourite plants such as lavender, foxgloves, rosemary, sunflowers and bluebells. Flowers with long narrow petal tubes, such as evening primrose and honeysuckle, are visited by moths and butterflies. Only their long tongues can reach deep down to the hidden nectar. Short-tongued insects include many families of flies and some moths. They can only reach nectar in flowers with short florets. Hoverflies, wasps, ladybirds, lacewings, ground beetles and centipedes are the gardener’s friends and will help control garden pests such as aphids and caterpillars. Insects such as spiders, mites, millipedes, sow bugs, ants, springtails and beetles inhabit the soil food web in the uppermost 2 to 8 inches of soil. They participate in decomposing plant and animal residue, cycling nutrients, creating soil structure and controlling the populations of other soil organisms, including harmful crop pests. Decaying organic matter in soil is the source of energy and nutrients for garden vegetables and ornamental plants. By growing flowers attractive to a range of insects, our gardens can also become important feeding stations for bats, hedgehogs, birds and other wildlife. The most important factor when encouraging wildlife into your garden is not to use insecticides.

Differences in susceptibility of five cladoceran species to two systemic insecticides

Differences in susceptibility of five cladocerans to the neonicotinoid imidacloprid and the phenyl-pyrazole fipronil, which have been dominantly used in rice fields of Japan in recent years, were examined based on short-term (48-h), semi-static acute immobilization exposure tests. Additionally, we compared the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) patterns of both insecticides between two sets of species: the five tested cladocerans and all other aquatic organisms tested so far, using data from the ECOTOX database of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).

Massive decline in Himalayan butterfly numbers

The lofty western Himalayas are being slowly robbed of their butterflies, with at least 50% of species showing a massive decline in less than a decade. Studies conducted by the high-altitude zoology field station of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) based in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, have recorded a drastic drop in butterfly numbers in the western Himalayas, famous for its biodiversity. “The population of 50% of the 288 species recorded in the western Himalayas, comprising areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, have declined more than half in just 10 years,” Avtar Kaur Sidhu, a scientist with the field station, said.

Depletion of arthropod fauna and in particular the decline of large arthropods on intensively used meadows

We studied arthropod occurrence in fallow land, extensively used pastures, extensively used meadows (cut twice or three times a year) and intensively used meadows (cut more than three times ayear) in Upper Bavaria.

Medium-sized arthropods (5-15mm) were encountered much less frequently on intensively used and fallow land than on pastures and extensively used meadows. Large individuals (>15mm) were observed most frequently on pastures but were hardly found on intensively used meadows. In autumn they occurred almost exclusively on pastures and fallow land. Species richness was the highest on pastures and the lowest on intensively used meadows. The study underscores the depletion of arthropod fauna and in particular the decline of large arthropods on intensively used meadows. It indicates that extensively used meadows and extensively used pastures in particular are the most favourable sources of nutrition for insectivores such as reptiles, amphibians, birds or bats.

Immunosuppression by Neonicotinoids? - Infectious Diseases in Amphibians

We have been pondering on the significance of the laboratory evidence from Bee Researchers in France and the US that the administration of tiny amounts of a systemic neonicotinoid, imidacloprid, to bees was associated with a weakening of bee immunity, such that they became more susceptible to bee diseases. and decided to look more closely at the patterns of recent deaths/epidemics in the UK, Europe and the US, involving a variety of other wildlife. In 2006, in localised areas of the UK, the ranavirus caused infected frogs either to bleed to death or to develop skin ulceration [1]. By 2007, a similar condition was found in toads and laboratory experiments showed that transmission could occur by inoculation from an infected frog to a toad [2].

EFSA identifies the toxicity of neonicotinoids to bees (and other non-target organisms such as amphibians) as a critical area of concern

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which carries out risk assessment on plant protection products, is currently reviewing recent scientific literature with regard to the effects of pesticides, and in particular of neonicotinoids, on bees. In its conclusions on imidacloprid and fipronil, EFSA has identified the toxicity to bees (and other non-target organisms) as a critical area of concern.

Behind Mass Die-Offs, Pesticides Lurk as Culprit

BY SONIA SHAH

For decades, toxicologists have accrued a range of evidence showing that low-level pesticide exposure impairs immune function in wildlife, and have correlated this immune damage to outbreaks of disease. In the past dozen years, three new diseases have decimated populations of amphibians, honeybees, and — most recently — bats. Increasingly, scientists suspect that low-level exposure to pesticides could be contributing to this rash of epidemics. The recent spate of widespread die-offs began in amphibians. Scientists discovered the culprit — an aquatic fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, of a class of fungi called “chytrids” — in 1998. Its devastation, says amphibian expert Kevin Zippel, is “unlike anything we’ve seen since the extinction of the dinosaurs.” Over 1,800 species of amphibians currently face extinction. There is a strong correlation between pesticide use and declining amphibian populations. Six years after scientists discovered the fungal assault on amphibians, a mysterious plague began decimating honeybees.

Minder vogels en vlinders op hei

De heidegebieden in Nederland staan onder druk. De populaties van enkele diersoorten op de hei namen sinds 1990 af met ongeveer 65 procent. Vooral vogels en dagvlinders op open, droge heidegebieden komen minder vaak voor. De duinpieper Anthus campestris en de klapekster Lanius excubitor zijn helemaal verdwenen, terwijl broedvogels als de korhoen Tetrao tetrix in aantal afnamen. De afname van het aantal vlinders daalde relatief het sterkst. Het vals heideblauwtje Plebejus idas en de kleine heivlinder zijn inmiddels bijna of helemaal verdwenen.