News release

From: The Royal Society

Common birds have higher abundances in croplands with lower pesticide purchases

Understanding how pesticides affect biodiversity remains challenging due to the lack of precise data on their use. Using a newly released database in France, the authors explored the links between pesticide purchases and bird abundance. They tested whether local pesticide contamination levels were associated with variation in bird abundance, independently of other aspects of agricultural intensification. They found that over 80 % of the 64 bird species studied were less abundant where pesticide purchases were higher. These results reveal widespread negative impacts of pesticides not only on farmland specialists but also on other common birds regularly using croplands to feed or breed.