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A University of Saskatchewan biologist says many wetlands across the Prairies are being contaminated by a relatively new pesticide that is threatening the ecosystem. Christy Morrissey says that over the past few years neonicotinoids have been used increasingly on crops in Western Canada and the chemical is making its way into wetlands, potentially having a devastating "domino effect" on insects and the birds that rely on them. Morrissey is just a year and a half into a four-year study, but she's alarmed by what she's finding. "This is huge" Morrissey said. "The impact on biodiversity could be probably bigger than we've ever seen before if we keep going at this rate."

It began in the mid-’90s, when Monsanto developed genetically modified (GM) crops such as soybeans, alfalfa, sugar beets, and wheat. These Franken-crops were immune to its leading weed killer, Roundup. That meant that farmers no longer had to till the land to kill weeds, as they’d done for hundreds of years. They could simply blast their entire fields with chemicals, leaving GM crops the only thing standing. Problem solved. The so-called no-till revolution promised greater yields, better profits for the family farm, and a heightened ability to feed a growing world. But there was one small problem: Agriculture had placed a belligerent strongman in charge of the buffet line.

A mysterious die-off of 27 bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in Utah is being blamed on West Nile Virus, after lab tests from the state's Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) showed the deadly illness was behind the deaths. Officials with the DWR say the eagles contracted the virus after eating infected grebes. Luckily for other eagles in the area, though, they note that the grebe population should soon subside as that bird's migration season comes to an end. Five other eagles are being treated and rehabilitated by wildlife officials. The Utah DWR is urging residents not to try to handle any sick birds they might encounter.

Friends of the Earth conducted a pilot study to determine the extent of neonicotinoid contamination of common nursery plants purchased at retail garden centers in cities across the U.S. This is the first investigation of neonicotinoid insecticide concentrations in “bee-friendly” nursery plants sold to consumers
at garden centers in cities across America. The findings indicate that bee-friendly nursery plants sold at U.S. retailers may contain systemic pesticides at levels that are high enough to cause adverse effects on bees and other pollinators — with no warning to consumers.

White-nose syndrome attacks bats as they hibernate and induces activity that wastes vital energy reserves needed to get them through the winter. The disease gets its name from the white fungus identified as geomyces destructans that grows around the muzzles of infected bats. First detected in Quebec three years ago, white-nose syndrome has now decimated bat colonies around the province and is estimated to have killed 5.7 million bats in eastern North America. There is no known cure for the fungal infection. “It’s one of the fastest declines for a species,” says Anouk Simard, a biologist with Quebec’s Environment Ministry. “In three years a very common species that we never worry about is now so low that it might disappear. It’s very serious.”

Each year, many species of birds escape their northern breeding grounds travelling south to their same feeding grounds; some of the migrants have had to adapt as their feeding grounds have changed and no longer provide a food source. One species that has adapted are the kinglets; some populations of these birds were in decline, but the emergence of Christmas tree farms in the northeast of North America provided them with a new source of food. In B.C., kinglets are blue, which means they are a species at risk. Kinglets are small hyperactive insectivore's part of the family of birds that includes the gnatcatchers and warblers. Once they were all thought to be of the same family but kinglets were then assigned their own family known as "Regulidae." There are two species of kinglet, the golden-crowned (Regulus satrapa) and the ruby-crowned (Regulus calendula). The ruby-crowned is more secretive and tends to live a solitary existence; golden-crowned are much more sociable and they are normally seen in small foraging flocks often on the ground.

Saturday, Dec. 28, will be the 40th birthday of one of the most significant pieces of environmental history in the U.S.: the Endangered Species Act. Now, with this landmark legislation entering its middle age, it’s an ideal time to reflect on where it has succeeded – and where it has fallen short. On balance, the ESA’s signature feature, the endangered species list, seems overwhelmingly positive. As of January 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed 2,054 species worldwide as endangered or threatened. Some 58 species have been taken off the list: 30 because they’ve recovered, 10 due to extinction, and 18 due to an error found in the original listing data. That might not seem like a resounding success on its face, but rebuilding the populations of species takes time – decades, often. In a 2012 report, the Center for Biological Diversity found that 90 percent of species covered by an ESA plan are recovering their numbers at the expected rate. “Few laws of any kind can boast a 90 percent success rate,” the CBD says.

Mid-Columbia farmers and private landowners won't be expected to protect the White Bluffs bladderpod, a plant species the federal government will list as being threatened. A federal designation of critical habitat goes into effect today , but only on federal land, officials said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed extending protection last year to the plant's habitat on 315 acres of private land in Franklin County, mostly farms, and 66 state-owned acres. However, Franklin County farmers and public officials were critical of the agency's proposal and the process. They threatened legal action and hired University of Idaho DNA researcher Cort Anderson, who disagreed with Fish and Wildlife's view that the plant is a distinct subspecies. But in its report, Fish and Wildlife said Anderson studied only three samples of White Bluffs bladderpod, not enough to change a peer review group's opinion. "The results from that peer review were unanimous," said Bridget Moran, Fish and Wildlife's consultation and conservation planning division manager. The agency didn't see the need to do its own DNA study and didn't have the funding for it, Moran said.