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The link between pollinator problems and neonicotinoids, a group of agricultural pesticides commonly associated with declines in honeybees, continues to build with two new studies published this week.
Butterflies of Northern California join the ranks of honeybees, bumblebees, moths and other organismsthat may be feeling the effects of the infamous insecticides. Butterfly species in California’s Central Valley have dipped since the 1990s — around the same time that neonicotinoids were introduced. Matthew Forister of the University of Nevada and his colleagues report August 16 in Biology Letters that those two events may be linked.
Tracking 67 butterfly species at four locations for at least two decades, the researchers found that a decline in the number of species at each site corresponds most closely to increased neonicotinoid use in the area (as opposed to land development, warmer summers or other potential drivers). Individual butterfly species in areas with higher pesticide use experienced the steepest declines. The results line up with a 2015 study of European butterflies that tallied fewer species over a wider range.
Also reported this week, a team of British scientists similarly builds on earlier work in wild bees. Researchers at the University of York mapped population data for 62 wild bee species sprinkled across the United Kingdom along with neonicotinoid treatment in local oilseed rape (Brassica napus) fields over 18 years.
Read more here. (Science News)
Butterflies of Northern California join the ranks of honeybees, bumblebees, moths and other organismsthat may be feeling the effects of the infamous insecticides. Butterfly species in California’s Central Valley have dipped since the 1990s — around the same time that neonicotinoids were introduced. Matthew Forister of the University of Nevada and his colleagues report August 16 in Biology Letters that those two events may be linked.
Tracking 67 butterfly species at four locations for at least two decades, the researchers found that a decline in the number of species at each site corresponds most closely to increased neonicotinoid use in the area (as opposed to land development, warmer summers or other potential drivers). Individual butterfly species in areas with higher pesticide use experienced the steepest declines. The results line up with a 2015 study of European butterflies that tallied fewer species over a wider range.
Also reported this week, a team of British scientists similarly builds on earlier work in wild bees. Researchers at the University of York mapped population data for 62 wild bee species sprinkled across the United Kingdom along with neonicotinoid treatment in local oilseed rape (Brassica napus) fields over 18 years.
Read more here. (Science News)
