The birds and the bees, insecticides and wildlife
by Lewis, 24 November, 2015, 1 comments
The woodlands' blog has often reported on the problems that bees and bumblebees are facing; these range from habitat loss & fragmentation, changing agricultural practices, parasites (varroa) and viruses, climate change and extreme climate events and the use of pesticides (particularly neonicotinoids).
Now there is evidence accumulating that the decline in various bird species (sparrows, swallows and tree starlings) can be correlated with the use of insecticides. A group of researchers from Birdlife (Netherlands), the Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology and Radboud University, Institute of Water and Wetland Research have been studying bird population declines at the turn of the century. Read more...
