November 10, 2021 | The diversity and abundance of freshwater aquatic insects plunges when commonly used neonicotinoid (neonic) insecticides leach into waterways, finds research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. While this is the latest study exploring the effects of neonicotinoids in the field at real-world exposure levels, it is far […]
Read More… from Aquatic Wildlife Populations Take a Nosedive after Neonicotinoid Exposure
September 29, 2021 | Bats foraging in chemical-intensive banana plantations have much less gut diversity than bats foraging in organic banana fields and natural forestland, finds research published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Although there is increasing recognition that a diet of conventional, chemically grown food leads to adverse disruptions of the gut microbiome […]
Read More… from Conventional Agriculture Decreases Diversity of Gut Bacteria in Foraging Bats
September 8, 2021 | (September 8, 2021) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in August 2021 released a long-overdue biological evaluation of the three most commonly used neonicotinoid (neonic) insecticides, finding that the chemicals are likely to adversely affect the lion’s share of endangered species and their habitat. While the public may be most familiar […]
Read More… from Endangered Species Likely to Be Hard Hit by Neonicotinoid Insecticides, EPA Finds
August 5, 2021 | A report by Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons finds Long Island, New York turtles are experiencing higher rates of deadly aural abscesses or ear blisters from pesticide use. Previous research documents the role chemical exposure from environmental toxicants play in inner ear abscess formation among turtles. However, synergism (collaboration) between viral […]
Read More… from Debilitating Ear Blisters Plague Long Island Turtle Populations from Pesticide Use
June 16, 2021 | Uncultivated field margins contain almost twice as many beneficial insects as cropped areas around farm fields, according to research published in the Journal of Insect Science. The study finds that these predators and parasitoids overwinter in diverse vegetation and can provide farmers with an important jump start on spring pest problems. […]
May 12, 2021 | In 2021, a team of scientists published in Science a piece that appears to solve an ecological mystery that had persisted for decades. Throughout the southeastern U.S., bald eagles and other top-level avian predators were experiencing mass deaths from a disease known as vacuolar myelinopathy (VM), a neurological ailment that causes […]
Read More… from Ecological Mystery Unravels, With Toxic Pesticide Use at the Center
May 7, 2021 | Soil health is one of the linchpins on which the food production that sustains human life—as well as biodiversity, pollinator health, and carbon sequestration—depends. A recent meta-review in Frontiers in Environmental Science of nearly 400 studies finds that, in 71% of the cases reviewed, pesticides kill or otherwise harm soil invertebrates […]
Read More… from Meta-Review: Pesticides Kill or Harm Soil Invertebrates Essential to Soil Health
April 8, 2021 | Pesticide use threatens aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates and plants more than ever, despite declining chemical use and implementation of genetically engineered (GE) crops in the U.S., according to a University Koblenz-Landau, Germany study published in Science. Since the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), many environmental agencies have banned the […]
March 2, 2021 | Populations of solitary ground nesting bees decline after exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides, according to a study in Scientific Reports. In addition to ground nesting bees, neonicotinoids have been shown to harm butterflies, hummingbirds, songbirds, aquatic species and mammals, including humans. As independent science continues to look beyond the effects of these […]
Read More… from Solitary Wild Bees Harmed by Neonicotinoid Pesticides Applied by Soil Drenching
January 27, 2021 | Lowest ever recorded! That’s the result of a yearly winter monarch count along the California coast, overseen each year by the conservation group Xerces Society. In 2020, citizen scientists counted only 2,000 butterflies. The findings indicate that many on the planet today are likely to experience, within their lifetimes, a world […]
Read More… from Monarch Butterfly Near Extinction—Calls for Urgent Federal Action
We are advancing systemic change toward a sustainable pesticide-free Chesapeake region.
