Agricultural pesticide use has contributed significantly to the decline of imperiled species in Canada

Humans are modifying the global landscape at an unprecedented scale and pace. As a result, species are declining and going extinct at an alarming rate. I examined patterns of species’ declines in three different groups in relation to a number of anthropogenic variables. I found high losses of Canadian imperiled bird, mammal, amphibian and reptile species in regions with high proportions of agricultural land cover. However, losses of imperiled species are significantly more strongly related to the proportion of the region treated with agricultural pesticides. This is consistent with the hypothesis that agricultural pesticide use, or something strongly collinear with it (perhaps intensive agriculture more generally), has contributed significantly to the decline of imperiled species.

Source:
Mary Katherine Elizabeth Gibbs (2012) Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the PhD degree in the Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology (attached)