Ornamental Phoenix palm trees as habitat for fauna in the Mediterranean Region - results from a full year monitoring.

In the European Mediterranean Region, palm trees are a common element in cities and semi-urban landscapes and have become important habitat structures for local fauna. This study aimed to monitor the invertebrate and vertebrate fauna occurring on and associated with ornamental palms of the genus Phoenix, over the course of one year. Five study sites were used in southern Spain, with varying levels of management. Several complementary methods were applied monthly in order to assess the vertebrates and invertebrates associated with the full seasonal cycle of palms, including flowering and fruiting. The study resulted in the identification of 216 invertebrate families from seven different classes and 89 vertebrate species, consisting of 62 bird, 20 mammal (including bats), six reptile and one amphibian species associated with Phoenix palms. It thus highlights that Phoenix palms provide a habitat for many species and individuals over the course of one year.

Precision farming and environmental pesticide regulation in the EU-How does it fit together?

Precision farming technology allows pesticides to be applied precisely to the target while leaving the rest of the field untreated. In the regulation of pesticides, however, a homogeneously sprayed field is considered as the standard scenario. To this end, the current status of pesticide risk assessment from the perspective of terrestrial vertebrates, terrestrial invertebrates, and plants as well as aquatic organisms was examined with respect to the EU registration of a pesticide to be applied via precision farming techniques. We highlight which and how respective parts of the technical procedures could be adapted to account for this technology. Our results demonstrate that large parts of risk assessment procedures can be modified, reducing pesticide application and the exposure to the environment. However, further studies and definite procedures are essential to realistically apply, for example, area restriction in the currently required environmental risk assessment schemes. Precision farming has then great potential to achieve the political and public goal of reducing pesticide use, increasing environmental safety, and enhancing the needs of a sustainable agricultural practice. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:17-23. © 2022 SETAC.

Key challenges and developments in wildlife ecological risk assessment: Problem formulation.

Problem formulation (PF) is a critical initial step in planning risk assessments for chemical exposures to wildlife, used either explicitly or implicitly in various jurisdictions to include registration of new pesticides, evaluation of new and existing chemicals released to the environment, and characterization of impact when chemical releases have occurred. Despite improvements in our understanding of the environment, ecology, and biological sciences, few risk assessments have used this information to enhance their value and predictive capabilities. In addition to advances in organism-level mechanisms and methods, there have been substantive developments that focus on population- and systems-level processes. Although most of the advances have been recognized as being state-of-the-science for two decades or more, there is scant evidence that they have been incorporated into wildlife risk assessment or risk assessment in general. In this article, we identify opportunities to consider elevating the relevance of wildlife risk assessments by focusing on elements of the PF stage of risk assessment, especially in the construction of conceptual models and selection of assessment endpoints that target population- and system-level endpoints. Doing so will remain consistent with four established steps of existing guidance: (1) establish clear protection goals early in the process; (2) consider how data collection using new methods will affect decisions, given all possibilities, and develop a decision plan a priori; (3) engage all relevant stakeholders in creating a robust, holistic conceptual model that incorporates plausible stressors that could affect the targets defined in the protection goals; and (4) embrace the need for iteration throughout the PF steps (recognizing that multiple passes may be required before agreeing on a feasible plan for the rest of the risk assessment). Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;00:1-16. © 2022 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

Assessing the Portion of Diet Taken by Birds and Mammals from a Pesticide-Treated Area-Proposal for a Joint Way Forward.

An environmental risk assessment for birds and mammals is an important part of any application package for potential registration of pesticides in Europe. A realistic estimation of the exposure of a certain species to the pesticide under field conditions is a refinement factor in long-term higher-tier risk assessments. Although guidance on how to collect specific exposure data is provided, there is not yet a harmonized view on how to use and assess existing and newly recorded field data. Exposure is defined as the portion of diet taken from a pesticide-treated crop field over time (the PT factor), and it is set equal to the time a (tracked) individual is active (= foraging) in the crop of concern at the crop growth stage relevant to the pesticide application being assessed. While the PT factor is set to 1 in a first tier, it can be refined in higher tiers. Differences in the methodologies influencing the robustness of a data set and intraindividual variance in PT data are currently not considered. Our study, based on data recording in accordance with the European Food Safety Authority's recommendations, shows this variance for different species in different crops for both breeding and nonbreeding periods, with tracking sessions showing both interindividual as well as intraindividual variation across several days. We discuss PT data quality and how it can be used, considering intraindividual variance in a manner that is protective and conforms to current European guidance. The present study intends to support the planned revision of the current European guidance on how to conduct environmental bird and mammal risk assessments, and its further purpose is to open constructive discussions about how and which kind of PT data can be used. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:1344-1354. © 2022 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Residue Levels of Pesticides on Fruits for Use in Wildlife Risk Assessments.

The guidance document on risk assessment for birds and mammals (GD) provides generic residue values of pesticides on potential diet items for use in wildlife risk assessments. For most diet items, these values are based on a large number of residue studies. However, the default residues per unit dose (RUD; standardized for application of 1 kg substance per hectare) values for fruits were taken from a few literature trials of unclear relevance for regulatory purposes. These trials were conducted according to neither current European Union (EU) agricultural practice nor to recommendations given in the GD about how to conduct wildlife-relevant residue studies. Therefore, field study data on fruit residue levels from applications of pesticides in fruiting crops were compiled and evaluated. Corresponding studies had been conducted during the last 26 y in the EU. In the final data set, 291 studies provided 1002 residue values in different fruits, including grapes, berries (currants, raspberries, gooseberries), fruits from orchards (apple, peach, pear, lemon, mandarin, orange, apricot, cherry, plum), gourds (pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, melons), and strawberries. This data set provides a basis for revising registration-relevant RUD values for fruits as potential diet items for birds and mammals in environmental wildlife risk assessments. The objective of this study was to estimate the resulting residue levels in different fruits determined under field conditions following the application of pesticides across their growing areas within the EU in diverse climatic areas that can be used directly in wildlife risk assessments. The large data set of usually about more than 100 residue values per "fruit group," all evaluated at EU member state level, revealed significantly lower RUDs compared to the current default RUDs presented in the GD. These new RUD values for fruits should be considered for use as default values in future bird and mammal risk assessments and in respective guidance documents. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:552-561. © 2020 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology Chemistry (SETAC).

Proposed Indoor Test Procedure to Quantify Pesticide Treatment Effects on Seed Consumption by Birds.

Pesticides used in seed coatings can influence seed consumption by birds and, therefore, actual exposure risk for them. A quantification of such effects on consumption is currently not regarded as a refinement factor in environmental risk assessments, although it is a possible option and should be considered, for example, for comparing exposure risk of different pesticides. It can highlight avoidance behavior, preventing birds from taking up lethal or sublethal pesticide doses. To formulate a standard, we developed an indoor test procedure based on established pen test methods, including 2- and no-choice phases with hunger periods. During testing, the highest standards of animal welfare were applied. Statistical approaches were used to determine the most appropriate number of replicates and for analysis. The effect on consumption of seeds is expressed as the ratio of consumed treated to untreated seeds. This consumption factor can be applied in avian risk assessments for seed treatments equivalent to an avoidance factor. We present, as an example, an application of the procedure to obtain a seed- and species-specific consumption factor for oilseed rape seeds (Brassica napus) provided untreated and treated with fungicides to greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) and Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). Overall, bird constitution was not negatively affected by the test procedure in either species. The test procedure was suitable for showing differences in expected consumption patterns, such as greater avoidance of treated seeds in 2-choice than in no-choice tests. However, the consumption differed between species and fungicide treatments, allowing us to rank avoidance effects of different fungicides. Using the presented standard procedure to generate comparable pesticide- and species-specific consumption factors for more species and seed treatments may result in refinement of default values and reduce animal trials in different designs in the future. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:359-370. © 2019 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.

Focal Species Candidates for Pesticide Risk Assessment in European Rice Fields: A Review.

An assessment of potential risks of pesticides on wildlife is required during the process of product registration within Europe because of the importance of agricultural landscapes as wildlife habitats. Despite their peculiarity and their specific role as artificial wetlands, rice paddies are to date pooled with cereals in guidance documents on how to conduct risk assessments for birds and mammals in Europe. Hence, the focal species currently considered in risk assessments for rice paddies are those known from cereal fields and can therefore be expected to differ significantly from the species actually occurring in the wet environments of rice paddies. We present results of a comprehensive review on bird and mammal species regularly occurring in rice paddies during a time of potential pesticide exposure to identify appropriate focal species candidates for ecotoxicological pesticide risk assessment according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In addition, we present data on rice cultivation areas and agricultural practices in Europe to give background information supporting the species selection process. Our literature search identified a general scarcity of relevant data, particularly for mammals, which highlights the need for crop-specific focal species studies. However, our results clearly indicate that the relevant bird and mammal species in rice fields indeed differ strongly from the focal species used for the cereal risk assessment. They can thus be used as a baseline for more realistic wildlife risk assessments specific to rice and the development of a revised guidance document to bridge the gap for regulatory decision makers. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:537-551. © 2018 SETAC.

Appropriate exposure estimates for wildlife risk assessments of crop protection products based on continuous radio telemetry: A case study with woodpigeons.

The registration of pesticides follows guidance published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). As a default, the EFSA guidance document on risk assessment for birds and mammals assumes that animals feed exclusively on pesticide-treated fields. However, the guidance document suggests refining the risk via the proportion of food animals obtain from a treated field or specific crop (expressed via the portion of diet obtained from a treated area [PT value]). The EFSA guidance equalizes the portion of food taken from a treated area per day with the portion of time spent potentially foraging over the course of a day within this area. Therefore, radiotracking is commonly used to gather species-, crop-, and season-specific PT data, and radio telemetry of continuously tracked farmland species can deliver individual PT values for a given day, crop, and species. In the present study the authors introduce a way of calculating long-term PT values based on empirically recorded data via telemetry field studies for the most appropriate use in wildlife risk assessment of pesticides. The novel aspect of the proposal is that the authors follow the prerequisite given by EFSA to cover the long-term risk by introducing 21-d PT values that aim to cover both intra- and inter-individual variability of foraging focal farmland species in cropped habitats. Currently, the intra-individual variability is not taken into account for PT calculations. The authors demonstrate this approach and discuss EFSA guidance input requirements for PT values recorded in field studies, based on a PT field study conducted with woodpigeons (Columba palumbus) radiotracked in an agricultural landscape in the United Kingdom. The results indicate that a 21-d PT value considering intra-individual variability gives a more appropriate PT value for long-term risk assessments. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1270-1277. © 2016 SETAC.

Focal bird species and risk assessment approach for nonagricultural grassland scenarios in Central Europe.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) guideline on risk assessment identifies pesticide exposure scenarios for nontarget wildlife; however, this scheme is not applicable to nonagricultural grassland. For example, different habitats and human utilization on golf courses attract bird communities that differ from those found in agricultural fields with annual crop cycles. The present study determined focal bird species for amenity grasslands such as golf courses following the EFSA guideline. Based on published data and bird surveys, a total of 102 species were found on 13 golf courses in Central Europe. Approximately 58% of the species were recorded on >20% of the golf course and were classified as focal species candidates. Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), common linnet (Carduelis cannabina), wood pigeon (Columba palumbus), yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella), white wagtail (Motacilla alba), and gray heron (Ardea cinerea) are the most adequate candidate focal species for exposure scenarios of carnivorous, granivorous, herbivorous, omnivorous, insectivorous, and piscivorous birds, respectively. Candidate species were verified on 3 golf courses in southwestern Germany in spring 2012. Observations on feeding behavior identified the main foraging areas of focal species. The results of the field work combined with data from the literature identified reliable exposure scenarios to assess the risk of pesticides to birds found on golf courses.

Focal species of birds in European crops for higher tier pesticide risk assessment.

Focal species have been defined by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as real species that represent others in a crop resulting from their potential higher level of exposure to pesticides. As such they are the most appropriate species for refining estimates of exposure further, through, for example, radio tracking and dietary studies. Plant protection product manufacturers collectively commissioned many studies in Europe, according to the EFSA guidelines, to identify focal species in different crops that may be used in risk assessments for spray applications of pesticides. Using frequency of occurrence in crops and risk-based criteria for exposure, all studies have been reviewed to identify if possible at least 1 focal species per feeding guild, per crop in the new registration zones for southern and central Europe. Some focal species repeatedly appeared across a wide range of arable or tree crops but not both, demonstrating broad adaptation to these 2 different crop structures. Many have widespread distributions, for example, 15 of the focal species have a distribution covering all agricultural regions of Europe (northern, central, and southern zones). Three species, corn bunting, serin, and tree sparrow, are restricted to the central and southern zones, whereas another 4 species, Sardinian and fan-tailed warbler, and crested and short-toed lark, are essentially restricted to the southern zone. The authors consider the focal species identified as suitable for risk assessment in Europe at the zonal level and for further refinement of exposure through studies, such as radio tracking or diet analysis, if necessary.

Timing of initial arrival at the breeding site predicts age at first reproduction in a long-lived migratory bird.

In long-lived vertebrates, individuals generally visit potential breeding areas or populations during one or more seasons before reproducing for the first time. During these years of prospecting, they select a future breeding site, colony, or mate and improve various skills and their physical condition to meet the requirements of reproduction. One precondition of successful reproduction is arrival in time on the breeding grounds. Here, we study the intricate links among the date of initial spring arrival, body mass, sex, and the age of first breeding in the common tern Sterna hirundo, a long-lived migratory colonial seabird. The study is based on a unique, individual-based, long-term dataset of sexed birds, marked with transponders, which allow recording their individual arrival, overall attendance, and clutch initiation remotely and automatically year by year over the entire lifetime at the natal colony site. We show that the seasonal date of initial arrival at the breeding grounds predicts the individual age at first reproduction, which mostly occurs years later. Late first-time arrivals remain delayed birds throughout subsequent years. Our findings reveal that timing of arrival at the site of reproduction and timing of reproduction itself are coherent parameters of individual quality, which are linked with the prospects of the breeding career and may have consequences for fitness.