Increasing use of neonicotinoid insecticides is harming pollinators, such as bees in pumpkin flowers.
Image source: KONRAD WOTHE/"Science" The farm is the battlefield, and the endless and costly battles between the growers and pests and weeds often involve "chemical weapons.
A large study documented the dramatic changes that have taken place in recent decades when American farmers have changed their "chemical weapons arsenal"-birds and mammals are better off, while pollinators and aquatic invertebrates have suffered severe losses.
"These trends show significant changes in toxicity over time.
In recent decades, the use of pesticides in the United States has fallen by about 40%.
Schulz and his collaborators started their research from the pesticide use data reported by American farmers from 1992 to 2016 by the U.
The good news is that from 1992 to 2016, the total toxicity of birds and mammals dropped by more than 95%.
However, for some pesticides and species, estimating their impact on the real world is very difficult.
Plants are also affected.
There is even a crop that has been genetically engineered to reduce the use of pesticides-genetically modified corn containing an insecticidal chemical called Bacillus thuringiensis-and its toxicity is rapidly increasing.
Schulz hopes that the study will help policymakers and others consider the complexity of pest and weed control, as well as the choice of wild species, in order to reduce unintentional harm.
Tooker pointed out that the increased toxicity of plants and aquatic invertebrates may lead to a decrease in the diversity of habitats and food resources, and eventually affect animal populations, which may cause losses.
Edward Perry, an agricultural economist at Kansas State University in Manhattan, said that in the end, these decisions boil down to how society evaluates various species.
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