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.

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.

Calibration of a molecular clock in tits (Paridae)--do nucleotide substitution rates of mitochondrial genes deviate from the 2% rule?

The ongoing debate on the reliability of avian molecular clocks is actually based on only a small number of calibrations carried out under different assumptions with respect to the choice and constraints of calibration points or to the use of substitution models. In this study, we provide substitution rate estimates for two mitochondrial genes, cytochrome b and the control region, and age estimates for lineage splits within four subgenera of tits (Paridae: Parus, Cyanistes, Poecile and Periparus). Overall sequence divergence between cytochrome b lineages covers a range of 0.4-1.8% per million years and is thus consistent with the frequently adopted approximation for a sequence divergence between avian lineages of 1.6-2% per my. Overall rate variation is high and encompasses the 2% value in a 95% CI for model corrected data. Mean rate estimates for cytochrome b range between 1.9 and 8.9 x 10(-3) substitutions per site per lineage. Local rates differ significantly between taxonomic levels with lowest estimates for haplotype lineages. At the population/subspecies level mean sequence divergence between lineages matches the 2% rule best for most cytochrome b datasets (1.5-1.9% per my) with maximum estimates for small isolated populations like those of the Canarian P. teneriffae complex (up to 3.9% per my). Overall rate estimates for the control region range at similar values like those for cytochrome b (2.7-8.8 x 10(-3), 0.5-1.8% per my), however, within some subgenera mean rates are higher than those for cytochrome b for uncorrected sequence data. The lowest rates for both genes were calculated for coal tits of subgenus Periparus (0.04-0.6% per my). Model-corrected sequence data tend to result in higher rate estimates than uncorrected data. Increase of the gamma shape parameter goes along with a significant decrease of rate and partly age estimates, too. Divergence times for earliest deep splits within tit subgenera Periparus and Parus were dated to the mid Miocene at 10-14my bp. Most recent splits between east and west Palearctic taxa of blue, willow and great tits were dated to the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary with the earliest estimates based on model-corrected trees. Relaxation of the Messinian calibration point leads to more recent divergence times for North African coal and blue tit populations during the mid Pliocene. Despite a relatively broad age constraint for the split between Nearctic and Palearctic Poecile due to the Pliocene re-opening of the Bering Strait, the split between chickadees and willow tits is dated considerably earlier than in former studies to the upper bound of the age constraint at 7.4 my BP.