Other insects

Based on count data compiled from Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) from 1974 to 2012, Christmas Bird Count (CBC) collected from 1914 to 2013, and hunter data from Annual Game Take Survey (AGTS) for years 1948–2010, ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) in California have experienced substantial declines in agricultural environments. An additional analysis using a restricted data set (1990–2013) indicated recent negative impacts on pheasant numbers associated with land use practices were also associated with relatively high levels of pesticide application.

Studies on the risks of neonicotinoids have often focused on bees — pollinators vital to farm production that have been experiencing population declines — but “it’s really not just about bees,” said Christy Morrissey, a professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Saskatchewan.

Damit hatte niemand gerechnet: Die Artenvielfalt in kleineren Gewässern am Bodensee scheint sehr gering zu sein. Irmtraud Schuster, die Umweltdezernentin des Landratsamtes Bodenseekreis, räumt ein, dass die Ergebnisse erster Prüfungen sie schon alarmiert hätten. Doch habe das Institut für Seenforschung nur Stichproben gezogen und lediglich – den allerdings wichtigen – Bereich der wirbellosen bodenlebenden Tiere untersucht. Ursache könnten Pflanzenschutzmittel sein, die aus dem Obstbau in die Bäche getragen werden.

Entomologists call it the windshield phenomenon. "If you talk to people, they have a gut feeling. They remember how insects used to smash on your windscreen," says Wolfgang Wägele, director of the Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity in Bonn, Germany. Today, drivers spend less time scraping and scrubbing. "I'm a very data-driven person," says Scott Black, executive director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in Portland, Oregon. "But it is a visceral reaction when you realize you don't see that mess anymore."

Sie sind unscheinbar und doch überall vorhanden. Kleine Bäche prägen das Landschaftsbild. Sie machen rund drei Viertel des 64 000 Kilometer grossen Schweizer Gewässernetzes aus. Doch sie sind oft kein guter Lebensraum mehr. Gründe sind Pestizide, die das Wasser für Wassertiere vergiften. Insbesondere am Anfang von Regenphasen gehen die Ausschläge hoch. Aber auch zwischen diesen Höchstwerten gibt es in vielen Bächen der Schweiz nachweislich Rückstände von Pestiziden. Dies zeigt eine Studie, die im Auftrag des Bundesamts für Umwelt realisiert wurde.

Aerially-foraging insectivorous bird populations have been declining for several decades in North America and habitat loss is hypothesized as a leading cause for the declines. Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica) are a model species to test this hypothesis because nest site use and availability is easily assessed. To determine if nest site availability is a limiting factor for Chimney Swifts, we established a volunteer-based survey to inventory and describe chimneys (n = 928) that were used or unused by swifts.

The influence of crop type (pasture, silage and cereal) on the abundance of aerial invertebrates and the density of foraging barn swallows Hirundo rustica was investigated in lowland mixed farmland in southern Britain. After taking weather and other confounding factors into account aerial invertebrate abundance over pasture fields was more than double that over silage, and more than three and a half times greater than that over cereal fields. Pasture fields also hosted approximately twice as many foraging barn swallows as both silage and cereal fields.

Recent monitoring studies in several countries have revealed a world-wide contamination of creeks, rivers and lakes with neonicotinoid insecticides, with residue levels in the low μg/L (ppb) range. At least two main areas of concern can be identified: reduced capacity for decomposition of organic debris by aquatic organisms and starvation of insectivores and other vertebrate fauna that depend on invertebrates as a major or only food source.

Most of New Zealand's native freshwater species are at risk of extinction as water quality faces "serious pressures", a Government report says. The report by the Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand, titled Our fresh water environment 2017, found nearly three quarters of native freshwater fish species are threatened by or at risk of extinction, as well as a third of native freshwater invertebrates and a third of native freshwater plants. It found nitrogen levels were worsening at more than half of the measured sites.