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In the past six months of 2012 about US$2bn (£1.25bn) was spent on acquisitions of biopesticide companies by such notable names as BASF (Becker Underwood), Syngenta (Pasteuria) and Bayer CropScience (AgraQuest). The market in 2012 was estimated to be worth $1.6 (£1bn) at grower level, however, projections estimate that by 2016 that could be in the region of $3bn (£1.9bn). Biocontrols and biopesticides offer a way of reducing the use of conventional chemistry, offering a "greener" and more sustainable way of protecting crops.

A frightening disease has been ravaging amphibians across the planet. At least 350 species have been infected, two hundred of which have suffered massive population reductions or extinctions, some even occurring within the space of weeks. In 1999, a single fungal species called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), commonly known as the chytrid fungus, was identified as the causative agent for these rapid die-offs. This facilitated preemptive testing of rare or endangered amphibian populations for Bd, the early detection of which allowed scientists to establish captive breeding populations to stem amphibian species extinctions. Frighteningly, despite this discovery, there remain perplexing instances of rapid amphibian deaths that do not test positive for Bd. An Martel of Ghent University, in the journal PNAS, has recently reported a possible explanation for these mysterious deaths. Together with an international team of scientists, she has identified a second culprit: a new chytrid species named Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bs), which can be translated to "the salamander-eating fungus."

Beyond the Birds and the Bees moves the spotlight from the risks neonicotinoids pose to bees to the impacts of neonicotinoids to invertebrates such as earthworms or lady beetles. The report provides a comprehensive review of published articles and pulls together the growing body of research that demonstrates risks from neonicotinoids to these beneficial insects. These risks occur particularly in agricultural systems, but are also found in urban and suburban ornamental landscapes. This report details potential negative impacts of neonicotinoid insecticides on important beneficial insects. It also makes recommendations on how we can better protect important beneficials like beetles and wasps.

A recent investigation into the death of thousands of bees last month in Minnesota revealed that fipronil, a widely used insecticide, was to blame. In mid-September, three colonies of bees in Minneapolis were found twitching and dying on the ground. Local apiarist Mark Lucas paints a grim picture of the poisoning event, which he witnessed, recalling that bees inside the hive came “spilling out of the hive as if they were drunk.” University of Minnesota Bee Lab, the University’s Bee Squad and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) carried out the investigation, taking samples from hives to confirm pesticide poisoning. Indeed, MDA tests found that all three of the affected hives tested positive for the presence of fipronil.

Friends of the Earth Canada has filed a notice of objection to Health Canada’s decision under the Pest Control Products Act to renew conditional registration of a bee-toxic pesticide, clothianidin, despite lack of due diligence by the applicant companies. Health Canada’s agency dealing with pesticides is recommending renewing use of clothianidin on potatoes, grape, pome fruits (like apples), stone fruits and turf even though the applicant chemical companies have not met conditions of their earlier registration. Because the pesticide accumulates in pollen and nectar, the chemical companies were required back in 2009 to do a hive study to assess chronic toxicity to bees and a study of the behaviour of clothianidin in plants. Friends of the Earth believes this research is even more important today than it was in 2009 given the dramatic die-off of Canada’s pollinators like honey bees. “Canada’s Minister of Health should put protection of the environment and the safety of bees ahead of profits of chemical companies,” says Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada. “Clothianidin should be off the market until proven safe to bees and other pollinators.”

Current bee population declines and colony failures are well documented yet poorly understood and no single factor has been identified as a leading cause. The evidence is equivocal and puzzling: for instance, many pathogens and parasites can be found in both failing and surviving colonies and field pesticide exposure is typically sublethal. Here, we investigate how these results can be due to sublethal stress impairing colony function. We mathematically modelled stress on individual bees which impairs colony function and found how positive density dependence can cause multiple dynamic outcomes: some colonies fail while others thrive. We then exposed bumblebee colonies to sublethal levels of a neonicotinoid pesticide. The dynamics of colony failure, which we observed, were most accurately described by our model. We argue that our model can explain the enigmatic aspects of bee colony failures, highlighting an important role for sublethal stress in colony declines.

An increasing body of scientific evidence indicates that many chemicals have biological effects at doses previously considered negligible. It is increasingly evident that more subtle deleterious effects can occur due to longer-term exposure to relatively low doses of chemicals, individually or in mixtures. New concerns have recently been raised about the impact of pesticides on non-target organisms including insects, especially bees, and amphibians. Studies suggest that low doses of neonicotinoids, a group of neurotoxic chemicals widely used in many countries as insecticides, could have sublethal effects on honey bees and bumble bees with serious consequences for wild populations of these crucially important pollinators and therefore for agriculture and the environment. It has also been suggested that detailed investigation of the effect of neonicotinoids on mammalian brain function, especially brain development, is needed to protect human health, especially that of children.

During foraging activities honeybees are frequently exposed to different xenobiotics, most of them are agrochemical pesticides and beehive chemicals. The understanding of synergy mechanisms between xenobiotics is very important for the control of defined mixtures use and also for the prediction of potential toxicity of newly developed substances in agriculture and apiculture. This review is focused on the effects, mechanisms and molecular targets of xenobiotics in honeybees and possible complex mechanisms of their synergisms. The majority of synergistic effects observed in honeybees were ascribed to the inhibition of detoxifying midgut enzymes P450 involved in xenobiotic metabolism. The main inhibitors of P450 enzymes are specific compounds used to prolong the effects of pesticides as well as some fungicides. Some insecticides can also interact with these enzymes and influence the xenobiotics.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed Endangered Species Act protection today for the yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), following a 2011 agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity to speed protection decisions for 757 imperiled species nationwide. “The decline of the cuckoo across the West is a symbol of the tragic decline of our rivers,” said Noah Greenwald, the Center’s endangered species director. “With just a little more care, we can restore those rivers — not just for cuckoos and hundreds of other animals and plants, but for people too.” Once common from the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle to the mouth of the Colorado River, today it can be found in only a handful of locations: portions of the Sacramento and Kern Rivers in California, the Colorado, Verde and San Pedro rivers in Arizona, the Gila and Rio Grande rivers in New Mexico and scattered locations in Colorado, Nevada and Utah. “The petition to protect yellow-billed cuckoos was the first I ever worked on, back in 1998,” said Greenwald. “I had no idea then that getting protection for this severely imperiled songbird would take 15 years, but I’m glad it finally has a great chance of recovering.”