Study finds increased use of pesticides and fertiliser is driving bird population declines across UK and Europe - RSPB
Intensive agriculture, particularly an increase in pesticides and fertiliser use, found to be the main pressure behind most bird population declines.
Numbers of European farmland bird species found to have more than halved between 1980 and 2016.
The collaborative study used the most comprehensive dataset of its kind ever assembled, measuring the impact of land use and climate changes on 170 bird species monitored at 20,000 sites across European 28 countries over 37 years.
Report co-authors RSPB says study’s findings underline the urgent need for UK governments to support farmers in reducing pesticide use and adopting nature-friendly practices.
An increase in the use of pesticides and fertilisers on farmland has been identified as the main cause for declines in most bird populations across the Europe, according to a major new study.
The collaborative study, published today by the science journal PNAS, used the most comprehensive dataset of its kind ever assembled to understand what drives population change in European birds [1]. It looked at how 170 bird species have responded to major human-induced pressures, including climate and land use changes, with research carried out at 20,000 monitoring sites across 28 countries over 37 years, and including data from the UK.
Over the study period (1980 to 2016), common bird species in Europe have shown a general decline in abundance of around a quarter (-25.4%).
Numbers of farmland species have more than halved over the same period – a decline of around -56.8%. Declines were also noted in woodland birds (-17.7%), urban dwellers (-27.8%), among northern, cold-preferring birds (-39.7%) and southern, warm-preferring bird species (-17.1%).
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Posted On: 16/05/2023