permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[SANET-MG] Fwd: RoundupR Highly Lethal to Amphibians in 
Natural Setting, Finds University of Pittsburgh Researcher
Date:   Mon, 4 Apr 2005 14:09:43 -0400
From:   David Conner <connerda@CARRS.MSU.EDU>
Reply-To: 	Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group 
<SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU>
To:     SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU



Has anyone else heard about this?
D-


David S. Conner, Ph.D.
Agricultural Economist
C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems
303 Natural Resources Building
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1222

(517) 353-1914

connerd@msu.edu


-----Original Message-----



This article just out in the journal Ecological Applications...



> Roundup(r) Highly Lethal to Amphibians in Natural Setting, Finds
> University of Pittsburgh Researcher
>
> Some species totally eliminated
>
> PITTSBURGH-The herbicide Roundup(r) is widely used to eradicate weeds.
> But a study published today by a University of Pittsburgh researcher
> finds that the chemical may be eradicating much more than that.
>
> Pitt assistant professor of biology Rick Relyea found that Roundup(r),
> the second most commonly applied herbicide in the United States, is
> "extremely lethal" to amphibians. This field experiment is one of the
> most extensive studies on the effects of pesticides on nontarget
> organisms in a natural setting, and the results may provide a key link
> to global amphibian declines.
>
> In a paper titled "The Impact of Insecticides and Herbicides on the
> Biodiversity and Productivity of Aquatic Communities," published in
> the journal Ecological Applications, Relyea examined how a pond's
> entire community-25 species, including crustaceans, insects, snails,
> and tadpoles-responded to the addition of the manufacturers'
> recommended doses of two insecticides-Sevin(r) (carbaryl) and
> malathion-and two herbicides-Roundup(r) (glyphosate) and 2,4-D.
>
> Relyea found that Roundup(r) caused a 70 percent decline in amphibian
> biodiversity and an 86 percent decline in the total mass of tadpoles.
> Leopard frog tadpoles and gray tree frog tadpoles were completely
> eliminated and wood frog tadpoles and toad tadpoles were nearly
> eliminated. One species of frog, spring peepers, was unaffected.
>
> "The most shocking insight coming out of this was that Roundup(r),
> something designed to kill plants, was extremely lethal to
> amphibians," said Relyea, who conducted the research at Pitt's
> Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. "We added Roundup(r), and the next
day
> we looked in the tanks and there were dead tadpoles all over the
> bottom."
>  Relyea initially conducted the experiment to see whether the
Roundup(r)
> would have an indirect effect on the frogs by killing their food
> source, the algae. However, he found that Roundup(r), although an
> herbicide, actually increased the amount of algae in the pond because
> it killed most of the frogs.
>
> "It's like killing all the cows in a field and seeing that the field
> has more grass in it-not because you made the grass grow better, but
> because you killed everything that eats grass," he said.
>
> Previous research had found that the lethal ingredient in Roundup(r)
was
> not the herbicide itself, glyphosate, but rather the surfactant, or
> detergent, that allows the herbicide to penetrate the waxy surfaces of
> plants. In Roundup(r), that surfactant is a chemical called
> polyehtoxylated tallowamine. Other herbicides have less dangerous
> surfactants: For example, Relyea's study found that 2,4-D had no
> effect on tadpoles.
>
> "We've repeated the experiment, so we're confident that this is, in
> fact, a repeatable result that we see," said Relyea. "It's fair to say
> that nobody would have guessed Roundup(r) was going to be so lethal to
> amphibians."
>
> ###
> 4/1/05/tmw
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