General

Current toxicological risk assessment can lead to serious underestimates of actual risk - neonicotinoids are a case in point

The traditional approach to toxicity testing is to consider dose (concentration)-effect relationships at arbitrarily fixed exposure durations which are supposed to reflect ‘acute’ or ‘chronic’ time scales. This approach measures the proportion of all exposed individuals responding by the end of different exposure times. Toxicological databases established in this way are collections of endpoint values obtained at fixed times of exposure. As such these values cannot be linked to make predictions for the wide range of exposures encountered by humans or in the environment. Thus, current toxicological risk assessment can be compromised by this approach to toxicity testing, as will be demonstrated in this paper, leading to serious underestimates of actual risk. This includes neonicotinoid insecticides and certain metallic compounds, which may require entirely new approaches. In order to overcome this handicap, an increasing number of researchers are using a variant of the traditional toxicity testing protocol which includes time to event (TTE) methods. This TTE approach measures the times to respond for all individuals, and provides information on the acquired doses as well as the exposure times needed for a toxic compound to produce any level of effect on the organisms tested. Consequently, extrapolations and predictions of toxic effects for any combination of concentration and time are now made possible.

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.

Agricultural pesticide use has contributed significantly to the decline of imperiled species in Canada

Anthropogenic habitat loss is usually cited as the most important cause of recent species’ extinctions. We statistically compared areas in Canada where imperiled species currently occur, versus areas where they have been lost. Using multiple regressions, we relate the numbers of species that had suffered range reductions in an ecoregion to variables that represent present habitat loss, pesticide use and human population density. We find high losses of imperiled species in regions with high proportions of agricultural land cover. However, losses of imperiled species are significantly more strongly related to the proportion of the region treated with agricultural pesticides. The relationship between species losses and area treated with pesticides remains significant after controlling for area in agriculture. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that agricultural pesticide use has contributed significantly to the decline of imperiled species in Canada. Habitat conversion per se may be a less important cause of species declines than how that converted habitat is used.

Decline of Darwin’s finches on Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos) between 1997 and 2010

We used point counts to conduct systematic quantitative surveys of Darwin’s finches and other land birds on Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos archipelago between 1997 and 2010. The temporal analysis revealed that six of the nine species investigated declined significantly and that this decline was most pronounced at higher elevations in humid native forest and agricultural areas; the highland areas have been most affected by introduced species or direct human impact. Five of the six declining species are insectivorous, which suggests that changes in insect abundance or insect availability are a critical factor in the declines. Other factors including habitat alteration and introduced parasites or pathogens may be contributing to the observed declines.

Duitstalige uitgave van Henk Tennekes boek 'Disaster in the Making' is verschenen in december 2011

De Duitse milieu-organisatie BUND (Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland) heeft in december 2011 een Duitstalige versie van het boek 'The Systemic Insecticides: A Disaster in the Making' gepubliceerd onder de titel »Das Ende der Artenvielfalt – Neuartige Pestizide töten Insekten und Vögel«. Een uitgebreide recensie van het boek verscheen onlangs in het tijdschrift Kritische Oekologie (zie bijlage). De Nederlandse toxicoloog Henk Tennekes beschrijft een rampscenario dat zich voor onze ogen voltrekt, veroorzaakt door een nieuwe generatie insecticiden, de zogenaamde neonicotinoiden, met als belangrijkste vertegenwoordiger het imidacloprid. Het sterk toegenomen gebruik van de neonicotinoiden in de land- en tuinbouw brengt niet alleen bijen in gevaar maar veroorzaakt - ook bij gebruik volgens voorschrift - tevens extreme verontreiniging van het grond- en oppervlaktewater, waardoor deze insecticiden zich in het milieu verspreiden, niet-doelwit insecten vergiftigen, en het voedselaanbod voor veel insectenetende vogels beneden het bestaansminimum brengen. Vogelsoorten die afhankelijk zijn van insecten om hun jongen groot te brengen komen daardoor in steeds grotere problemen. Het Nederlandse landschap verandert in razend tempo in een kerkhof van de biodiversiteit. Wat Rachel Carson een halve eeuw geleden voorspelde, dreigt nu werkelijkheid te gaan worden.

Many species of both common and uncommon birds in North America are in serious trouble

"Citizen birder" Bob Janssen, 79, has been watching and listing birds for more than six decades. He has compiled more than 175,000 records of his observations in the state's 87 counties, and he has spent the past two years transferring them to spreadsheets for the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union, a state birding club. He is troubled by the declining populations of many species. What he sees, or, in some cases doesn't see, alarms him. Janssen said he has seen a "tremendous decline" in many of their populations, particularly in the 35 warbler species that nest in or migrate through the state. His conclusions are similar to those of thousands of other birders: Many species of both common and uncommon birds in North America are in serious trouble.

Australian birds face extinction crisis

The future of Australian birds is bleak, according to a new report called The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010, which was carried out by researchers from Birds Australia (formerly the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union), Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory and the national science agency CSIRO. It classifies every Australian species and subspecies of bird according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List guidelines, which is the international standard for measuring risk of extinction. Birds moving into the danger zone include the western ground parrot, the regent honeyeater and orange-bellied parrot. The grey-headed albatross from Macquarie Island in the southwest corner of the Pacific Ocean is listed as 'critically endangered'. In total, 13% of bird species in Australia are under threat. The report applies current knowledge to change the conservation standing of 66 birds since the last action plan report in 2000. It lists 27 as extinct, 20 as critically endangered, 68 as vulnerable and 63 as near threatened.

Fachbuch »Das Ende der Artenvielfalt – Neuartige Pestizide töten Insekten und Vögel« von Henk Tennekes

2010 veröffentlichte der holländische Toxikologe Henk Tennekes ein international beachtetes Fachbuch mit dem Titel »Disaster in the Making«. Er beschreibt das extreme Artensterben bei Insekten und Vögeln der Agrarlandschaft – in England genauso wie in Holland oder Deutschland. Rebhühner, Kiebitze, Haubenlerchen und Braunkehlchen und selbst die früher so häufige Feldlerche werden immer seltener. Tennekes belegt das Artensterben mit vielen wissenschaftlichen Publikationen, die er in seinem Buch vorstellt. Die Ursache sieht der Toxikologe in einer Gruppe neuer Pestizide, der Neonikotinoide. Diese fordert er sofort zu verbieten. Noch vor Weihnachten 2011 kam die limitierte deutsche Ausgabe mit dem Titel »Das Ende der Artenvielfalt – Neuartige Pestizide töten Insekten und Vögel« auf den Markt.

India’s disappearing bird species

The list of threatened birds, a testimony to human culpability, exploitation and neglect, is increasing every year. Just to take India’s case there were seven critically endangered species in 2000. Their numbers went up to nine in 2001; they increased to 12 in 2008; 14 in 2010 and 15 in 2011, when the Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps was added to the list. According to IUCN, critically endangered species are those facing extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future, and if nothing is done, the species might become extinct in 10 years, or in less than three generations (see http://iucn.org/themes/ssc/siteindex.htm for more details). Marginally less threatened, according to the IUCN criterion, are endangered species. There are 16 endangered bird species in India, including Lesser Florican Sypheotides indicus, Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, Narcondam Hornbill Rhyticeros narcondami and Masked Finfoot Heliopais personata. Then there are vulnerable species: these face high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium term. Fifty-eight Indian birds fall in this category. The species that are at a lower risk are termed near threatened. These are species I consider “sick”. They are not likely to die soon, but need our care and support to survive. There are 68 such species in India based on existing information but a comprehensive assessment of Indian birds is quite likely to make the list longer.

Biodiversity and biological control

Agricultural intensity on the local field or farm scale and on the regional landscape scale affects the organisms utilizing the arable landscape, and may affect ecosystem services and functions. This thesis examines how plants, birds, community composition of ground beetles, and biological control of cereal aphids are affected by local agricultural intensity, organic farming and the surrounding landscape in Sweden and across Europe. The contribution of naturally occurring predator groups to the control of cereal aphid populations in complex and simple arable landscapes is also examined.