Tag Archives: pesticides

Non-Target Casualties: The Overlooked Impact of Neonicotinoids on Grassland Plant Bugs – Investigating Agrochemical Exposure in a Prominent but Overlooked Group of Insects

Modern agro-ecosystems are extensively contaminated with pesticides, but the effects of these chemicals on insect biodiversity are poorly understood. Jan Erik Sedelmeir reports in this blog post about a new study, carried out at the Department of Applied Entomology at the University of Hohenheim under the direction of Georg Petschenka.

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A cocktail of pesticides eradicates biodiversity – PAN Europe Interview to Prof. Dr Carsten Brühl

“Insects and other arthropods are disappearing at an alarming rate all over Europe and pesticides play a major role.” Recently the European Pesticide Action Network (PAN) interviewed Professor Dr. Carsten Brühl, specialist in ecotoxicology.

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Current-use pesticides in vegetation, topsoil and water reveal contaminated landscapes of the Upper Rhine Valley, Germany

Landau, 12.03.2025 – A new study by the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, published in Communications Earth & Environment, shows extensive pesticide contamination in the landscape of the Upper Rhine Region. Pesticides disperse across the entire landscape, contaminating soil, vegetation, and water far beyond agricultural zones. The findings shed new light on the potential environmental impacts of conventional agriculture. According to the researchers, pesticide use must be reduced urgently in order to protect non-target areas around fields, orchards and vineyards.

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PhD position ‘Harnessing compost microbes for new crop protection products against foliar diseases’

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Do you want to develop new sustainable plant protection products based on microorganisms and their metabolites? The University of Basel has an open position for a 4-year PhD position to work on new crop protection products.

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Residues of helicopter applied pesticides in and around vineyards at the river Mosel

Members of the Ecotoxicology and Community Ecology team sample soil and vegetation from the slopes of the river Mosel

In this blog post, Lorenz Witt and Ken Mauser provide some background on an excursion to the Mosel Valley. Their objective was to investigate the exposure of terrestrial non-target ecosystems to pesticides, potentially threatening the remaining habitat of a critically endangered butterfly species.

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Highlights of 2023 (Part 2)

In this second and final installment of the ‘Highlights of 2023’ series, we give our readers a glance of another 3 most visited posts in this year. 

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