Graph of the Day: Decline of butterflies in 4 countries in Europe, 1990-2011

22 July 2013 (EEA) – The European Grassland Butterfly Indicator is built from European species trends. In this chapter, we give an overview of the trends of grassland butterflies in Europe and the EU. First, we calculate the trend in each country and for each species separately. Figure 3.1 shows four of the national trends […]

TIME magazine: The plight of the honeybee

[You know that you’ve arrived when your story makes the cover of TIME. The rest is behind the pay wall, unfortunately.] By Bryan Walsh 19 August 2013 (TIME) – You can thank the Apis mellifera, better known as the Western honeybee, for 1 in every 3 mouthfuls you’ll eat today. Honeybees — which pollinate crops […]

Graph of the Day: Population declines of three butterfly species in Europe, 1990-2011

22 July 2013 (EEA) – Figure 3.2 shows some examples of European butterfly trends: The Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus), a widespread and in many countries common and abundant butterfly, occurring on all kinds of grasslands; the Orangetip (Anthocharis cardamines), a typical spring butterfly; the Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon), a specialist species of dry calcareous grasslands. […]

Populations of grassland butterflies in Europe decline almost 50 percent over two decades

23 July 2013 (EEA) – Grassland butterflies have declined dramatically between 1990 and 2011. This has been caused by intensifying agriculture and a failure to properly manage grassland ecosystems, according to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The fall in grassland butterfly numbers is particularly worrying, according to the report, because these butterflies […]

National Farmers' Union claims extreme weather poses biggest threat to British farming – ‘The biggest uncertainty for UK agriculture is extreme weather events’

By Damian Carrington    28 July 2013 (The Guardian) – Extreme weather being driven by climate change is the biggest threat to British farming and its ability to feed the nation’s growing population, according to Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers’ Union. His comments, in an interview with the Guardian, come after a week of […]

Canada bees dying by the millions – ‘I think it’s criminal what is happening’

By Jon Radojkovic 19 June 2013 ELMWOOD (The Post) – Local beekeepers are finding millions of their bees dead just after corn was planted here in the last few weeks. Dave Schuit, who has a honey operation in Elmwood, lost 600 hives, a total of 37 million bees. “Once the corn started to get planted […]

25,000 bumblebees killed, dropping from trees in Oregon – Neonicotinoid pesticide suspected – ‘I’ve never encountered anything quite like it in 30 years in the business’

By  Elizabeth Case19 June 2013 (The Oregonian) – An estimated 25,000 bumblebees have been found dead in a Target parking lot in Wilsonville since Saturday, 15 June 2013, the largest known incident of bumblebee deaths in the United States, according to the Xerces Society. Preliminary information suggests pesticides may be at fault. The Oregon Department […]

Guadeloupe and Martinique threatened as pesticide contaminates food chain – ‘There is no hope of improvement … It will go on for generations’

By Martine Valo    6 May 2013 (The Guardian) – On 15 April 2013 more than 100 fishermen demonstrated in the streets of Fort de France, the main town on Martinique, in the French West Indies. In January they barricaded the port until the government in Paris allocated €2m ($2.6m) in aid, which they are still […]

Video: Bee dieoff accelerates in U.S., threatens farmland – ‘This year it seemed like it got the whole nation’

By Anne Thompson6 May 2013 (NBC Nightly News) – Brian Williams: This is just the time of year when gardens across so much of our country should be buzzing with activity. beehives of activity, in fact. But those same bees that scared us to death as kids, we came to appreciate as adults for the […]

World’s most widely used insecticide is devastating dragonflies, snails, and other water-based species

By Damian Carrington    1 May 2013 (The Guardian) – The world’s most widely used insecticide is devastating dragonflies, snails and other water-based species, a groundbreaking Dutch study has revealed. On Monday, the insecticide and two others were banned for two years from use on some crops across the European Union, due to the risk posed […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial