Bird decline, insect decline and neonicotinoids

Per la prima volta, 25 organizzazioni ambientaliste britanniche si sono riunite per la realizzazione di uno studio sullo stato della natura nel Regno Unito e nei Territori d'Oltremare. I risultati di quest'iniziativa sono stati raccolti e pubblicati in un report dal titolo "The State of Nature". Il report è il primo del suo genere a documentare lo stato e le tendenze delle popolazioni di animali e piante nel Regno Unito e nei suoi Territori d'Oltremare. Il report esamina lo stato della natura negli otto principali tipi di habitat del Regno Unito e propone una panoramica delle principali cause dei cambiamenti nella fauna.

A new State of Nature report by 25 conservation groups including the Wildlife Trusts, the RSPB and the Mammal Society is predictably depressing: most British species are struggling and one in three have halved in number in the past half century. Hedgehogs have disappeared even more dramatically. Even if the 30 million population estimate from the 1950s is a massive over-exaggeration, hedgehogs have declined by more than 90%. Numbers have fallen by more than a third since 2003 and fewer than a million roam our countryside today. The quiet disappearance of this much-loved mammal – currently performing strongly in a BBC Wildlife Magazine poll to find a national species for Britain – may rarely make the headlines but it is a tragedy, and another small way in which we are all becoming more estranged from the natural world.

More than half the wildlife species found in our islands are declining, under an assault of development, air pollution and chemical attack. Bumblebees, wildflowers, songbirds and butterflies are among the more obvious casualties. Perhaps even more troubling than freefall declines in red squirrels, harbour seals, hedgehogs, starlings and all the others, is the fact that the crisis facing the living fabric of our environment is hardly mentioned in politics. And not only have ministers recently turned their attention away from the protection of nature, they have presented efforts to protect it as the enemy of growth, development and business. George Osborne's claim that laws to protect rare species are a 'ridiculous burden on business', Owen Paterson's championing the cause of Bayer and Syngenta in opposing the moratorium on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides and Michael Gove's attempts to downgrade education about our relationship with the natural environment are recent cases in point. With this in mind we can confidently guess that the government's on-going review of EU environmental laws is not intended to strengthen the protection of nature in these islands.

Die meisten Tierarten auf den Britischen Inseln sehen sich einem anhaltend dramatischen Rückgang ausgesetzt, und der Bestand etwa jeder dritten Spezies hat sich in den letzten 50 Jahren halbiert. Das ist das Fazit einer beispiellosen Studie. Die aktuelle Botschaft zur Lage der Natur wurde von 25 Umweltgruppen erarbeitet. Sie beruht auch auf jahrelangen Zählungen von Millionen Freiwilliger im Lande und zeigt: Egal ob im Wald oder auf Wiesen, in Bächen, Flüssen oder Meer - viele Säuger und Amphibien, Vögel, Fische und Insekten stecken in Schwierigkeiten. Auf und über landwirtschaftlich genutzten Flächen - sie machen drei Viertel im Königreich aus - ist der Vogelbestand seit 1970 um die Hälfte, die Zahl der Schmetterlinge um ein Drittel gesunken. Eine ähnliche Tendenz bei Sommerlerchen. Besonders dramatisch ist die Lage bei einem kleinen Säugetier. Der »Guardian«: »Der Igel verschwindet heute ebenso rasch wie der Tiger.« Doch während große und exotische bestandsgefährdete Tiere wie Tiger und Pandabären nach Ansicht des Ökologen Hugh Warwick »heute vom Status als Hollywood-Berühmtheiten in bestimmtem Maße« profitierten und Aufmerksamkeit auf sich zögen, vollzieht sich der Rückgang anderer Spezies oft unbemerkt - und alarmierend rasch.

Henk Tennekes, toxicólogo holandés, ha estudiado a 360 grados los efectos de la difusión de los neonicotinoides en el ambiente y las consecuencias que ello supone para los insectos y otros animales no Diana. La presentación del Doctor Tennekes en el congreso de la Asociación de apicultores de Hampshire (traducido en español e italiano por Unaapi).

June Stoyer and special guest co-host Tom Theobald are joined by Dr Henk Tennekes (bibliography attached) to discuss his latest research, titled, "The molecular basis of simple relationships between exposure concentration and toxic effects with time." Listen to the broadcast:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx5Oh-Vvrwo&feature=youtu.be
The following map-animations produced by Tom Theobald of Boulder County Beekeepers in Colorado, USA reveal how the use of two neurotoxic chemicals has spread across the American landscape since the 1990s (source maps were provided by the United States Geological Service):
imidacloprid http://www.bouldercountybeekeepers.org/animation.html
clothianidin http://www.bouldercountybeekeepers.org/animation2.html

These maps dramatically reveal how the use of these two neurotoxic chemicals has spread across the American landscape since 1999

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a newly emergent disease that potentially threatens all temperate bat species. A recently identified fungus, Geomyces destructans, is the most likely causative agent of this disease. Until 2009, WNS and G. destructans were exclusively known from North America, but recent studies have confirmed this fungus is also present in Europe. We assembled an international WNS consortium of 67 scientists from 29 countries and identified the most important research and conservation priorities to assess the risk of WNS to European bats. Here, we review what is known about WNS and G. destructans and detail the conservation and research recommendations aimed at understanding and containing this emerging infectious disease.

The dramatic mass mortalities amongst hibernating bats in Northeastern America caused by ‘‘white nosesyndrome’’ (WNS) continue to threaten populations of different bat species. The cold-loving fungus, Geomyces destructans, is the most likely causative agent leading to extensive destruction of the skin, particularly the wing membranes. Recent investigations in Europe confirmed the presence of the fungus G. destructans without associated mass mortality in hibernating bats in six countries but its distribution remains poorly known. We collected data on the presence of bats with white fungal growth in 12 countries in Europe between 2003 and 2010 and conducted morphological and genetic analysis to confirm the identity of the fungus as Geomyces destructans. Our results demonstrate the presence of the fungus in eight countries spanning over 2000 km from West to East and provide compelling photographic evidence for its presence in another four countries including Romania, and Turkey. Furthermore, matching prevalence data of a hibernaculum monitored over two consecutive years with data from across Europe show that the temporal occurrence of the fungus, which first becomes visible around February, peaks in March but can still be seen in some torpid bats in May or June, is strikingly similar throughout Europe. Finally, we isolated and cultured G. destructans from a cave wall adjacent to a bat with fungal growth. G. destructans is widely found over large areas of the European continent without associated mass mortalities in bats, suggesting that the fungus is native to Europe. The characterisation of the temporal variation in G. destructans growth on bats provides reference data for studying the spatio-temporal dynamic of the fungus. Finally, the presence of G. destructans spores on cave walls suggests that hibernacula could act as passive vectors and/or reservoirs for G. destructans and therefore, might play an important role in the transmission process.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans. Biologists are struggling to understand this recent emerging infectious disease, which potentially threatens >20% of all mammalian diversity. WNS is a deadly epidemic that has swept through the northeastern United States over the past 3 years and caused the death of >1,000,000 bats, with decreases of ≈100% in some populations. This disease and fungus had been restricted to the northeastern United States. We detected this fungus in a bat in France and assessed the implications of this finding.

Een grootschalige inventarisatie van de natuur in het Verenigd Koninkrijk heeft aangetoond dat de meeste soorten worstelen om te overleven en dat een op de drie soorten in de afgelopen halve eeuw in aantal is gehalveerd. Het verslag werd opgesteld door natuurbeschermingsorganisaties waaronder de Wildlife Trusts, de Mammal Society, Buglife en de Marine Conservation Society. Het unieke verslag, gebaseerd op wetenschappelijke analyse van tientallen miljoenen waarnemingen van vrijwilligers, toont aan dat insecten, vogels, vissen, amfibieën, reptielen en planten in de problemen zijn geraakt. Het volledige rapport is online verkrijgbaar: www.rspb.org.uk / stateofnature. Van meer dan 6000 soorten die met behulp van moderne Rode Lijst criteria in het Verenigd Koninkrijk zijn onderzocht, wordt ruim 1 op de 10 met uitsterven bedreigd. In de overzeese gebieden van het Verenigd Koninkrijk, die een rijke fauna van groot internationaal belang bezit, lopen meer dan 90 soorten een hoog risico uit te sterven. De helft van de onderzochte soorten ondergaan sterke veranderingen in aantal of territoria, wat aangeeft dat de recente veranderingen in het milieu een dramatische werking op de natuur in het Verenigd Koninkrijk hebben. De intensivering van de landbouw heeft ingrijpende en langdurige gevolgen voor de natuur gehad. Volgens de toxicoloog Henk Tennekes heeft met name het veelvuldige gebruik van de voor insecten zeer giftige neonicotinoide insecticiden, die in de bodem en het water accumuleren, een rampzalige werking op de natuur, zoals beschreven in zijn in 2010 gepubliceerde boek "Disaster in the Making". Kijk naar de indrukwekkende toespraak van de natuurbeschermer en TV presentator Iolo Williams over de toestand van de natuur in Wales: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnJQjtvngqA