I wonder what the effects are in Australia? I also wonder, has anyone been looking? http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/09/neonicotinoids-farmland-birds Carl Clifford _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
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5 responses to “Neonicotinoids linked to recent fall in farmland bird numbers”
Attachment came up for me . —–Original Message—– Jeremy O’Wheel Sent: Thursday, 10 July 2014 4:16 PM Cc: Birding Aus bird numbers Attached, although Birding Aus people will not get the attachment. The study was particularly looking at whether insectivorous birds were impacted by the reduction of insects as a result of insecticides. So there’s nothing in the study to suggest that Neonictoninoids have any direct effect on birds, just that they reduce their food by doing the things we know they do (kill insects) (and quantifying that). On 10 July 2014 16:21, Carl Clifford <carlsclifford@gmail.com> wrote: for that. _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Thanks for that Jeremy. Not being in the world of Academe, I don’t have free access to sites such as Nature. I will have a read. There is still the problem with insecticides such as the the neonicotinoids, that there is a insectidal wasteland left after their use, because they knock out not only pest species, but also harmless and beneficial species. So much for the push for the implementation of integrated pest management campaigns of the last century. I guess farmers found them too hard, much easier to adopt clear crop approach. I would argue, though, that removing birds’ food species from large areas does have a direct affect on the birds. Carl Clifford _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Attached, although Birding Aus people will not get the attachment. The study was particularly looking at whether insectivorous birds were impacted by the reduction of insects as a result of insecticides. So there’s nothing in the study to suggest that Neonictoninoids have any direct effect on birds, just that they reduce their food by doing the things we know they do (kill insects) (and quantifying that). On 10 July 2014 16:21, Carl Clifford <carlsclifford@gmail.com> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
nature13531.pdf
Not having read the paper in Nature referred to, I could not answer that, but with the paper appearing in Nature, I would think that the idea has some legs. Carl Clifford _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
The study seems to have found that birds that eat insects are less likely to be found in areas that are sprayed with insecticides, and then the journalist has implied it could be a consequence of chemical, rather than just the food chain, but I don’t see what evidence there is for that. Jeremy On 10 July 2014 13:53, Carl Clifford <carlsclifford@gmail.com> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org