Those of us who have focused on neonicotinoid effects on bees are reminded by this report, and by the recent summary of impacts on North American birds (http://www.abcbirds.org/n...), that these pesticides can have ecosystem-wide impacts. More studies like this one need to be published to inform the debate on neonicotinoid use.

One particularly interesting point is the authors' recommendation of a limit of 1ng/L for imidacloprid levels in water. Standards in other countries are higher than the upper Dutch limit of 200ng/L, which this study shows is associated with much reduced invertebrate abundance. The 2007 Canadian limit of 230 ng/L was "supported" by surveys in the province of Ontario showing no detectable levels of imidacloprid in fresh water systems - but these surveys used methods with detection limits of 1000ng/L to 4000ng/L (Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life). Clearly national and local water monitoring agencies will need to invest in better analytical techniques to test and replicate the authors' findings.