Neonicotinoids may be contributing towards the disappearance of butterflies from the countryside, according to the first scientific study to examine the effect of the controversial agricultural pesticides on British butterflies. Researchers found that 15 of 17 species which commonly live on farmland – including the small tortoiseshell, small skipper and wall butterfly – show declines associated with increasing neonic use. Using population data from 1985 to 2012 gathered on more than 1,000 sites across the country, scientists at the universities of Stirling and Sussex, in partnership with Butterfly Conservation and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, found that neonicotinoid use better explained steep population declines than other factors. Martin Warren, chief executive of Butterfly Conservation, said that the correlation revealed by the research required urgent further investigation.
“The debate up until now has been focused on bees. If neonicotinoids are affecting a lot of other insects, we should be even more worried,” said Warren. “What we really want is more research. It’s crazy that we’re using a potentially dangerous-to-wildlife chemical and nobody has done those studies.
“If we’re going to get smart about using chemicals in the countryside we need to test them better before they get out there.”
Source: The Guardian, 24 November 2015
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/24/pesticide-butterflie…
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