Warning of ‘ecological Armageddon’ after dramatic plunge in insect numbers

Posted on October 19, 2017 by GarryRogers

GR: Over the past four years that I’ve reported bad news, this is the worst. We’ve known that insects were declining, but no one would have guessed the decline was this deep. Habitat loss is probably the leading cause (Yay farmers!), but pesticides applied to farms, roadsides, and settled areas undoubtedly play a serious part.

A raging disaster of this magnitude should spur a massive response. Can we reduce the human population and its growing demand for food, can we clean up our environment,can we stop using pesticides, can we cluster our homes and leave more untouched wild nature? Of course we can. If we don’t, the consequences for Earth and for humanity will be deep and dark.

Three-quarters of flying insects in nature reserves across Germany have vanished in 25 years, with serious implications for all life on Earth.

As well as being pollinators insects provide food for birds and other animals and help control pests. Photograph: Kevin Elsby/Alamy

“The abundance of flying insects has plunged by three-quarters over the past 25 years, according to a new study that has shocked scientists.

Insects are an integral part of life on Earth as both pollinators and prey for other wildlife and it was known that some species such as butterflies were declining. But the newly revealed scale of the losses to all insects has prompted warnings that the world is “on course for ecological Armageddon”, with profound impacts on human society.

The traps were set in protected areas and reserves, which scientists say makes the declines even more worrying. Photograph: Courtesy of Courtesy of Entomologisher Verein Krefeld

“The new data was gathered in nature reserves across Germany but has implications for all landscapes dominated by agriculture, the researchers said.

“The cause of the huge decline is as yet unclear, although the destruction of wild areas and widespread use of pesticides are the most likely factors and climate change may play a role. The scientists were able to rule out weather and changes to landscape in the reserves as causes, but data on pesticide levels has not been collected.

“The fact that the number of flying insects is decreasing at such a high rate in such a large area is an alarming discovery,” said Hans de Kroon, at Radboud University in the Netherlands and who led the new research.

“Insects make up about two-thirds of all life on Earth [but] there has been some kind of horrific decline,” said Prof Dave Goulson of Sussex University, UK, and part of the team behind the new study. “We appear to be making vast tracts of land inhospitable to most forms of life, and are currently on course for ecological Armageddon. If we lose the insects then everything is going to collapse.”

“The research, published in the journal Plos One, is based on the work of dozens of amateur entomologists across Germany who began using strictly standardised ways of collecting insects in 1989. Special tents called malaise traps were used to capture more than 1,500 samples of all flying insects at 63 different nature reserves.

“When the total weight of the insects in each sample was measured a startling decline was revealed. The annual average fell by 76% over the 27 year period, but the fall was even higher – 82% – in summer, when insect numbers reach their peak.” –Damian Carrington (Continue reading: Warning of ‘ecological Armageddon’ after dramatic plunge in insect numbers | Environment | The Guardian.)

Pesticides impair honey bee flying abilities

Posted on June 10, 2017 by GarryRogers

GR: More evidence on pesticide impact on bees. Pesticides are toxic to many more animals than bees. The economic importance of bees, however, has served us all by focusing attention on the dangers of pesticides. Perhaps Monsanto’s next genetic breakthrough (after herbicide resistant GMOs) will be self-pollinating crops. Thus, pesticide use expands, wildlife declines, and Earth becomes more of a biological wasteland of mile-long rows of corn and beans tended by GPS guided artificial intelligences. Where is the farmer? He’s in the shadows shielded from the intense radiation pouring through the ozone free atmosphere.

“The evidence keeps mounting that pesticides are the main driver of honey bee declines. In a new study, scientists with the University of California San Diego showed that a commonly used neonicotinoid pesticide (thiamethoxam) can significantly impair the ability of otherwise healthy honey bees to fly, raising concerns about how pesticides affect their capacity to pollinate and the long-term effects on the health of honey bee colonies.

“Previous research has shown that foraging honey bees that ingested neonicotinoid pesticides, crop insecticides that are commonly used in agriculture, were less likely to return to their home nest, leading to a decrease in foragers.

“Thiamethoxam is used in crops such as corn, soybeans and cotton. To test the hypothesis that the pesticide impairs flight ability, the researchers designed and constructed a flight mill (a bee flight-testing instrument) from scratch. This allowed them to fly bees under consistent and controlled conditions. The study was published April 26 in Scientific Reports.

“The testing showed that nonlethal levels of neonicotinoid exposure — which bees could experience when foraging on agricultural crops–but below lethal levels — resulted in substantial damage to the honey bee’s ability to fly.

“Our results provide the first demonstration that field-realistic exposure to this pesticide alone, in otherwise healthy colonies, can alter the ability of bees to fly, specifically impairing flight distance, duration and velocity” said Tosi. “Honey bee survival depends on its ability to fly, because that’s the only way they can collect food. Their flight ability is also crucial to guarantee crop and wild plant pollination.” –Staff Report, Summit County Citizens Voice (Pesticides impair honey bee flying abilities – Summit County Citizens Voice).

Disastrous 2016 shows British butterflies are ‘failing to cope’ with climate change

Posted on April 12, 2017 by GarryRogers

GR: Butterflies and other pollinators seem to be in steep decline around my home in Dewey-Humboldt, Yavapai County, Arizona. Monarch, Morning Cloak, and Swallowtail numbers shrank over the past few drought years. Part of the explanation for butterfly decline here, as in Britain is pesticide use and habitat loss. However, global warming with its rising temperature, droughts, and storms, is probably becoming as important. We just had wet winter, and I hope that this summer and next spring butterfly numbers will rebound.

Butterflies are like the canary in the coal mine. If they die, are we in danger too?

Two-tailed Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) Arizona’s butterfly.

In Britain: “Butterflies are “failing to cope” with climate change and the pollution of the British countryside, experts have warned after a disastrous year saw population declines in 40 out of 57 species.

“The UK Butterfly Monitoring Survey found it had been the fourth-worst year overall with six species – the heath fritillary, grizzled skipper, wall, grayling, white-letter hairstreak and white admiral – all suffering their most dramatic declines in the 41 years since records began.

“Sixteen species saw increases with one remaining about the same, the annual survey found. But Professor Tom Brereton, head of monitoring at Butterfly Conservation, said the results showed that the insects were in trouble.” –Ian Johnston (Continue reading: Disastrous 2016 shows butterflies are ‘failing to cope’ with climate change | The Independent.)

The extinction crisis is far worse than you think

Posted on December 19, 2016 by GarryRogers

GR: This CNN Photo/Video/Data essay has high-quality images and interviews. Recommended.

“Frogs, coral, elephants — all are on the brink. Three quarters of species could disappear. Why is this happening? CNN explores an unprecedented global crisis.” –CNN (Continue: The extinction crisis is far worse than you think)

Requirements for the USDA Organic Seal of Approval

Posted on June 17, 2016 by GarryRogers

GR.–Take action for butterflies: According to the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), organic farms in the U. S. sales reached $5.5 billion in 2014, up 72 percent since 2008. Save the pollinators and the animals that depend on them; go organic! It’s the simplest way to boycott Monsanto and all the users of glyphosate and other pesticides. Here’s what “organic” means:

From OnlyOrganic.org.–“The USDA certified organic seal is the only guarantee that your food has been grown without toxic pesticides, most synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics, artificial hormones or genetically engineered seeds. It also indicates that food that has been produced in compliance with federal standards.

“To meet these standards, farmers must:

rotate crops to maintain soil health
reduce soil erosion to improve water quality
use buffers to prevent contamination from non-organic fields
prohibit the use of toxic pesticides, most synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics, growth hormones, and genetically engineered seeds
provide animals with year-round access to fresh air, clean water, direct sunlight, and room to move

“Before a farmer can market their crops as organics, they must meet USDA organic standards.Becoming certified organic is a multi-step process. The US Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) oversees organic agriculture and certification in our country, but accredited certifying agents are the ones who actually grant or deny the organic certification of goods. The certifying agents must first go through a rigorous review process to get accredited by NOP. Then, the accredited certifying agents put each company through an inspection and review process to become certified organic.” Continue reading: The Organic Seal of Approval | Only Organic

Save

Agreement turns I-35 into pollinator haven | Finance & Commerce

Posted on May 27, 2016 by GarryRogers

GR: It is definitely time to get serious about pollinator protection. Unfortunately, this agreement is not binding and it does not mention mowing or herbicides, the principal roadside vegetation management tools of departments of transportation. If I-35 roadsides start to become wild and rough, it will be a sign that the effort to aid pollinators is sincere. Fingers crossed!

DES MOINES, Iowa — Soon, passengers zipping along Interstate 35 will see a lusher refuge and more food for bees and butterflies in the hopes of helping the insects boost their declining populations, six states and the Federal Highway Administration announced Thursday.

That 1,500-mile stretch of road from northern Minnesota to southern Texas is a flyway for monarch butterflies that migrate between Mexico and Canada, and is surrounded by acres of public land that can serve as friendly territory for the bees and butterflies that pollinate the plants that produce much of the nation’s food, such as fruits and vegetables.

But the monarch butterfly has lost population in recent years, which researchers say is due in part to shrinking stands of milkweed, on which butterflies feed and lay eggs. And last year, beekeepers reported losing about 40 percent of honey bee colonies in part due to pesticide use, habitat loss and parasites.

The agreement signed Thursday by officials from Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas and the federal government is meant to improve the habitat and develop a branding campaign to informally name the interstate the Monarch Highway. Source: Agreement turns I-35 into pollinator haven | Finance & Commerce

Nature News Digests

Posted on October 10, 2015 by GarryRogers

Nature News Digests:

The looming DARK Act

Posted on July 21, 2015 by GarryRogers

“The Monsanto-backed bill to undercut GMO labeling efforts just got worse. Faced with increased push-back at state and local levels, the pesticide/biotech corporation — and its allies in Congress — are attempting to further limit choice in the food and farming system.

“In this latest version of what critics have dubbed the “Denying American’s Right to Know” or DARK Act, industry has snuck in a provision that would limit the authority of local government to create rules on genetically engineered (GE) crops. A House vote is scheduled for Thursday.

“Worried that nearby GE crops might cross-pollinate and contaminate your fields or threaten your organic certification? Tough luck. Want to know what’s being grown nearby? Too bad. Want to protect schoolchildren from pesticides applied on GE crops nearby? Suck it up.” Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.panna.org

GR: This keeps happening because there are congressmen waiting in line with their hands out. Set low limits on campaign spending, eliminate campaign finance by private companies, and dynamite the revolving door.

One in ten European wild bee species face extinction

Posted on March 26, 2015 by GarryRogers

One in ten European wild bee species face extinction

Source: www.wildlifearticles.co.uk

GR: This is a global problem. This morning I stood inhaling the sweet scent beneath the magnificent plumb tree that shades my bird garden bench, looked up into the countless fragrant blossoms, and listened in vain for the hum of working bees. There was silence except for the distant hum of a truck on the road a mile away. No movement amidst the thousands of blooms except for a single fly.

This is the worst spring for pollinators in the eighteen I’ve lived and worked at Coldwater Farm. There were a few bees last month when the apricot bloomed, fewer when the willows bloomed, and now nothing in the plumbs. We have a farm nearby, and I wonder if they are killing the bees with Monsanto GMO crops and pesticides. If they aren’t, could the lawn and garden pesticides my neighbors are using cause the bees to disappear?

Tell the President to #BeeKindObama and suspend bee-toxic neonics!

Posted on December 17, 2014 by GarryRogers

In June, the President called on federal agencies to create a plan to “promote the health of honey bees and other pollinators.” To show appreciation for all that bees and wild pollinators provide, it is essential that this plan address toxic, persistent, and systemic neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics) — which science has shown to be a critical driver of pollinator declines. The Task Force was originally set to reveal its action plan this week, but has elected to take more time.

As the pollinator crisis continues, groups and concerned citizens across the country are calling on the President to #BeeKindObama, and give the gift of pollinator protection by making certain the Pollinator Health Task Force takes decisive action on bee-harming pesticides.

Other countries are following the science and directly addressing the threat neonics pose to pollinators. Over a year ago, the European Union’s suspension of neonics went into effect. And just recently the government of Ontario announced plans to reduce the use of neonic-treated seeds by 80%.

Pollinators in the United States can’t wait any longer, so we’re taking our request directly to the President and urging him to ensure the U.S. takes similar steps to protect pollinators!

Source: salsa3.salsalabs.com

GR: The dangers of pesticides are pervasive and harmful to all animals. Weed managers spray millions of gallons of pesticides on crops, along roads, and in parks. The U. S. Bureau of Land Management uses pesticides throughout the public lands of the 17 western U. S. states. The farm upstream from my home has wide weed-free zones that are probably maintained by pesticides. Bees serving as pollinators on the farm catch a full dose. Bees in yards and gardens downstream from the farm receive small doses that washed off the farm into the stream and into the groundwater. When home gardeners respond to the massive pesticide marketing efforts and use pesticides around their homes, they easily reach lethal levels.