Despite recent news that overwintering monarch butterfly populations have increased 35% in the past year, these graceful creatures are still facing an unsteady future after years of ongoing decline. Monarch butterflies are a migratory species. Eastern monarch butterflies, which make up the vast majority of monarch butterflies in North America, travel from southern Canada and […]
Tag: neonicotinoids
Researchers find that bumblebees’ body size could make them more vulnerable in a warming world
According to new research, the climate crisis may result in more small-bodied bees but fewer bumblebees, with potentially “cascading” implications on plant pollination and ecosystems. Over the course of eight years, scientists in the United States trapped and studied more than 20,000 bees in a region of the Rocky Mountains to see how different varieties […]
EPA plans to allow the use of insecticides devastating to bees and butterflies to continue in America for the next 15 years
Despite steps by the European Union to limit the use of poisons responsible for widespread insect losses, the US Environmental Protection Agency is prepared to allow the use of four of the most harmful compounds to bees, butterflies, and other insects in America for the next 15 years. Despite “ecological hazards of concern, notably to […]
Wildlife garden ideas – 10 ways to transform your backyard into a nature-friendly plot
Wildlife garden ideas are having something of a moment. With many of us spending more time on our gardens, allotments and window-boxes at the moment, it’s the perfect opportunity to make a few changes to help our local wildlife as well. The sound of a robin singing at dusk can be breathtaking, and few things […]
Two pesticides approved for use in US harmful to bees
A previously banned insecticide, which was approved for agricultural use last year in the United States, is harmful for bees and other beneficial insects that are crucial for agriculture, and a second pesticide in widespread use also harms these insects. That is according to a new analysis from researchers at The University of Texas at […]
Petition: Report Shows Pesticides are the Leading Cause of Steep Decline in US Bird Species
A new report has found that the United States bird populations continue to decline, and pesticides are part of the reason. The study shows that neonicotinoid insecticides are linked to reductions in bird diversity, specifically between 2008 and 2014. Source: Link TV/Youtube The use of neonicotinoid insecticides is linked to a reduction of grassland […]
Alarm as pesticides spur rapid decline of US bird species
Popular pesticides are causing bird species to decline at an alarming rate in the US, adding fuel to a 50-year downward trend in bird biodiversity, a new report has found. In addition to spray-on pesticides, farmers are widely using chemicals that coat seeds. These pesticides, called neonicotinoids or neonics, deter insects as the seeds sprout […]
Petition: Tell the EU to Ban Neonicotinoids, Pesticides that Kill Bees
Bees are extremely important to most lifeforms on Earth, as they are responsible for most of the pollination of our crops. Unfortunately, bees populations are decreasing at an alarming rate. In the United States alone, the number of bee colonies per hectare has gone down by ninety percent since 1962. Humans are almost entirely responsible, […]