Boerenlandvogels – WP

Auteur: Eric

  • Long-term effects of neonicotinoid insecticides on ants

    The widespread prophylactic usage of neonicotinoid insecticides has a clear impact on non-target organisms. However, the possible effects of long-term exposure on soil-dwelling organisms are still poorly understood especially for social insects with long-living queens. Here, we show that effects of chronic exposure to the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam on black garden ant colonies, Lasius niger, become visible before the second overwintering. Queens and workers differed in the residue-ratio of thiamethoxam to its metabolite clothianidin, suggesting that queens may have a superior detoxification system. Even though thiamethoxam did not affect queen mortality, neonicotinoid-exposed colonies showed a reduced number of workers and larvae indicating a trade-off between detoxification and fertility. Since colony size is a key for fitness, our data suggest long-term impacts of neonicotinoids on these organisms. This should be accounted for in future environmental and ecological risk assessments of neonicotinoid applications to prevent irreparable damages to ecosystems.

    Source:
    Schläppi, D., Kettler, N., Straub, L. et al. Long-term effects of neonicotinoid insecticides on ants. Commun Biol 3, 335 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-1066-2
    https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-1066-2#Abs1

  • Vervolgadvies Gezondheidsraad over gewasbescherming en omwonenden

    Uit buitenlands onderzoek komen aanwijzingen voor een verband tussen blootstelling aan gewasbeschermingsmiddelen en de kans op gezondheidsschade, zoals de ziekte van Parkinson en ontwikkelingsstoornissen bij kinderen. De uitkomsten van onderzoek in Nederland zijn minder uitgesproken, maar kunnen de ongerustheid ook niet wegnemen. Meer onderzoek zal op korte termijn geen duidelijkheid geven en de toelatingsprocedure voor de middelen kan nooit alle risico’s uitsluiten. Daarom adviseert de Gezondheidsraad voorzorg toe te passen, door het streven naar vermindering van de afhankelijkheid van de landbouw van chemische gewasbeschermingsmiddelen te intensiveren. Ook voorlichting en handhaving zijn van belang, want telers blijken veilig werken niet altijd genoeg prioriteit te geven. De raad adviseert goed te registreren welke middelen op welke percelen gebruikt worden en de blootstelling van mensen aan gewasbeschermingsmiddelen periodiek te meten aan de hand van afbraakproducten in bijvoorbeeld urine. Tot slot adviseert de raad door te gaan met verbetering van de toelatingsprocedure.

    Bron: Gezondheidsraad, 29-6-20
    https://www.gezondheidsraad.nl/documenten/adviezen/2020/06/29/vervolgadvies-gewasbescherming-en-omwonenden

  • Decline to Near-Extirpation of the Tree Sparrow at Beddington Farmlands

    The Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) colony at Beddington Farmlands – which used to be one of the biggest in England – is all but lost following a shocking decline of the species at the London site, with analysis in the Beddington Farmlands 2019 Bird and Wildlife Report suggesting failed habitat management as the key factor.

    The site owners at Beddington, Viridor, built a 300,000-tone incinerator some 20 m from a significant part of the Tree Sparrow colony – permission for which was granted in 2013 – and it is that year when the most stark crash occurred; in 2012, 61 pairs fledged 365 young, but in 2013 nine pairs fledged 42 young. As of 2019, the number of individual birds and brood efforts is in single figures and it seems unlikely the colony can recover from this point.

    The analysis in the recent report also suggests failure to implement a conservation management plan as another key factor in the population crash. Delays in habitat restoration – particularly those associated with sacrificial crops – are cited as particularly damaging. The national decline is loosely attributed to fewer seed and insect food sources being available.

    Sadly, this decline to near-extirpation at Beddington is symptomatic of the national trend for Tree Sparrow, which is now Red-listed following a horrendous 93% decline between 1970 and 2008. Despite slight recoveries in some areas, it is thought that the current population consists of fewer than 10% of those present in the late 1960s. The species has now withdrawn completely from some southern and western regions of Britain. Tree Sparrow has become very localised in southern England and the nearest colony to Beddington – at Tyttenhanger, Hertfordshire – has recently been threatened with development.

    Source: Bird Guides, 14 June 2020
    https://www.birdguides.com/articles/failed-habitat-management-behind-loss-of-famous-tree-sparrow-colony/

  • Alarm as hundreds of fish die in Rome’s river Tiber

    Rome authorities continue to investigate the cause behind the mysterious death of hundreds of fish in the city’s river Tiber on 30 May. Initial tests have proved inconclusive and further testing is underway, however police do not believe the phenomenon relates to deliberate illegal dumping of toxic material into the river. The capital’s environment department is however working on the theory that the mass death of the fish relates to insecticides used in corn crops, abundant in farms north of Rome, reports online newspaper RomaToday.

    The pesticide in question is believed to be a form of neonicotinoid which may have been washed into the Tevere by heavy rain at a time when the river’s water levels were much lower than normal.

    In April 2018 the European Union banned the use of three controversial neonicotinoid insecticides on all crops grown outdoors. The ban followed a respected scientific review which concluded that the insecticides posed a high risk to wild bees and honeybees.

    Source: Wanted in Rome, 11 June 2020
    https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/why-are-so-many-fish-dying-in-romes-river-tiber.html

  • Industrial agriculture linked to insect collapse, says new report

    Insect populations are plummeting across the world because of industrial farming and heavy pesticide use, and this decline is a threat to food production, warned a new report released on Tuesday (9 June 2020). The ‘Insect Atlas’ is a comprehensive new global review of trends in insect populations, their relationship with agriculture, and what needs to be done to ameliorate it. It was published by the Green think tank Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in conjunction with environmental campaigns group Friends of the Earth Europe.

    The report concluded that insect species and pollinators are in severe decline, with 41% of all insect species in decline and one-third threatened with extinction. It also highlighted that this reduction includes pollinators, as at least one in ten bee and butterfly species in Europe is on the brink of extinction.

    Pollinators contribute directly to around one-third of global food production, with 75% of our most important crops dependent on pollination by insects, which makes insect decline a serious concern for food security.

    The report puts this decline down in large part to industrial agriculture and its intensive use of pesticides, which the report said has risen five-fold since 1950, with more than four million tonnes sprayed on fields worldwide every year.

    Source: EURACTIV, 9 June 2020
    https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/industrial-agriculture-linked-to-insect-collapse-says-new-report/

    Link to Insect Atlas:
    https://www.boell.de/sites/default/files/2020-05/insectatlas2020_web_200525.pdf?dimension1=ds_insect_atlas

  • Immunosuppression response to thiacloprid in the red mason bee Osmia bicornis

    Here we demonstrate for the frst time that field-realistic concentrations of the commonly used neonicotinoid insecticide thiacloprid can severely affect the immunocompetence of Osmia bicornis. In detail, males exposed to thiacloprid solutions of 200 and 555µg/kg showed a reduction in hemocyte density. Moreover, functional aspects of the immune defence – the antimicrobial activity of the hemolymph – were impaired in males. In females, however, only a concentration of 555µg/kg elicited similar immunosuppressive efects. Our results demonstrate that neonicotinoid insecticides can negatively affect the immunocompetence of O. bicornis, possibly leading to an impaired disease resistance capacity.

    Source:
    Annely Brandt et al. Scientific Reports (Nature Publisher Group); London Vol. 10, Iss. 1, (2020). DOI:10.1038/s41598-020-61445-w

  • Erste Berichte über kumulative Risiken von Pestiziden veröffentlicht

    Die EFSA hat die Ergebnisse ihrer beiden Pilotbewertungen zu den Risiken für den Menschen veröffentlicht, die von den Rückständen verschiedener Pestizide in Lebensmitteln ausgehen. Die Bewertungen – von denen sich die eine mit chronischen Wirkungen auf das Schilddrüsensystem und die andere mit akuten Wirkungen auf das Nervensystem befasst – bilden den Abschluss einer mehrjährigen Zusammenarbeit zwischen der EFSA und dem niederländischen nationalen Institut für die öffentliche Gesundheit und die Umwelt (RIVM).

    Die Dokumente wurden nach einer zweimonatigen Konsultationsphase fertiggestellt, in der die EFSA wertvolle Rückmeldungen von zahlreichen Interessenträgern erhalten hat, darunter nationale Einrichtungen, Wissenschaftler und Hochschulen, Nichtregierungsorganisationen und Wirtschaftsverbände. Außerdem fand eine Sitzung mit Interessenträgern in Brüssel statt, bei der die Methodik dargelegt und die Ergebnisse der Arbeit erläutert wurden.

    Die Gesamtschlussfolgerung für beide Bewertungen ist, dass das Risiko einer ernährungsbedingten kumulativen Exposition für Verbraucher unter dem Schwellenwert liegt, der Regulierungsmaßnahmen für alle relevanten Bevölkerungsgruppen auslöst, wobei der Zuverlässigkeitsgrad schwankt (weitere Informationen über die Verwendung von Unsicherheitsanalysen bei den Bewertungen finden Sie in den “Häufig gestellte Fragen” (FAQ). Bewertungen der Wirkungen von Pestiziden auf andere Organe und Körperfunktionen folgen in den nächsten Jahren. Die EFSA ist derzeit dabei, einen umfassenden Umsetzungsplan mit der Europäischen Kommission auszuarbeiten.

    Quellen: Analytik News, 10.06.20
    https://analytik.news/presse/2020/350.html

    EFSA, Juni 2020
    https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.6087

  • Imidacloprid overschreed ook in 2019 de normen in het oppervlaktewater van de glastuinbouw

    Het Hoogreemraadschap (HH) Delfland heeft een meetnet om de waterkwaliteit van het glastuinbouwgebied te monitoren: er zijn 23 meetlocaties in het meetnet voor de glastuinbouw, namelijk op 3 referentielocaties buiten het glastuinbouwgebied, 5 boezemlocaties en 15 locaties in glastuinbouwgebied. Op deze locaties zijn elke maand bestrijdingsmiddelen, stikstof en fosfaat gemeten.

    De polders waar in 2019 gemiddeld de meeste bestrijdingsmiddelen zijn aangetroffen zijn: de Oude Campspolder (gemeente Westland en Midden-Delfland), de Hoefpolder (gemeente Westland), de Oranjepolder (gemeente Westland) en de Vlotwatering (gemeente Westland). Per meting werden op deze locaties gemiddeld 14 stoffen aangetroffen. In 4 gevallen worden er gemiddeld meer middelen aangetroffen dan in 2018.

    In het hele meetnet glastuinbouw zijn 11 verschillende bestrijdingsmiddelen gemeten die de norm hebben overschreden. De stoffen die op de meeste locaties de norm overschrijden zijn imidacloprid (toegelaten onder restricties), carbendazim (niet toegelaten), pymetrozine (toegelaten) en spinosad (toegelaten). De grootste overschrijdingen zijn afkomstig van de stoffen piperonyl-butoxide (toegelaten), esfenvaleraat (toegelaten) en abamectine (toegelaten).

    Bron: HH Delfland, mei 2020

  • Eight species of flora and five species of fauna are nearing extinction in the Punjab

    Eight species of flora and five species of fauna are nearing extinction in Punjab. The once-common white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis) is critically endangered since 2000. Another endangered species is Indus River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica). Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) is another vulnerable bird species. Indian Rock Python (Python molurus) and Indian Roofed Turtle (Kachuga tecta) are also endangered. Among the endangered trees is ‘Seem’ tree (Tecomella undulata), an economically and pharmaceutically important tree.

    Source: Indian Tribune, 5 June 2020
    https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/ludhiana/environmentalists-rue-loss-of-biodiversity-95243

  • Grey Partridge is now considered extinct in Switzerland

    The grey partridge (Perdix perdix) has been deemed extirpated from Switzerland following a year of no sightings in 2019, marking a sad demise for a species once common in the land-locked European nation. Last year’s blank came after only two breeding pairs were found in the Geneva region in 2018. Given their sedentary nature, a recurrence of the species is considered very unlikely.

    In the middle of the 20th century it was estimated that some 10,000 individuals were spread across arable areas in Switzerland, already a sharp decrease from the late 19th century, but the population then began to crash dramatically. In 1991, the Federal Office for the Environment began working to protect Grey Partridge, as they attempted to restore habitat in cooperation with farmers in the Klettgau region in the north of the country. Once this was achieved, birds were relocated to these areas and, from 2002 until 2004, some 15-20 pairs were established. However, following a weather-related crash of the population, the scheme ceased. There have been no records of the species from Klettgau since 2016.

    In the Champagne region, between 2008 and 2012, some 500 Grey Partridges were released, resulting in a breeding population of roughly 60 pairs in 2012. However, this population failed to sustain itself, with reasons cited as the small size of the areas they were released in and predator density. As a short-lived species, the partridges needed suitable habitats in an even larger catchment area than the perimeter of the project areas.

    Sadly, this crash is symptomatic of a wider farmland bird decline in Switzerland, with species such as Crested Lark, Ortolan Bunting, Lesser Grey, Red-backed and Great Grey Shrike all lost due to high-intensity agriculture and a lack of food supply. Indeed, the wider prognosis for Grey Partridge is rather bleak and, across the Swiss border in Germany, the partridge population crashed by a shocking 90% between 1992 and 2016.

    Source: Bird Guide, 7 June 2020
    https://www.birdguides.com/news/grey-partridge-becomes-extinct-in-switzerland/