2024-03-29T12:08:33Zhttp://digital.csic.es/dspace-oai/requestoai:digital.csic.es:10261/1416852022-11-23T11:42:22Zcom_10261_108com_10261_8col_10261_361
Risk assessment of pesticide seed treatment for farmland birds using refined field data
López-Antia, Ana
Feliú, Jordi
Camarero, Pablo R.
Ortiz-Santaliestra, Manuel E.
Mateo, Rafael
Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (España)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)
Real Federación Española de Caza
Fundación Biodiversidad
Oficina Nacional de la Caza (España)
Agriculture
Focal species
Fungicides
High tier assessment
Treated seeds
Seed coating
Insecticides
Pesticides
Red-legged partridge
Due to reductions in winter food resources, newly sown cereal seeds have become a key component of many bird species' diets, but these seeds are often treated with pesticides that may cause toxic effects. To complete an appropriate risk assessment, data on treated seed toxicity need to be combined with information about the risk of exposure of birds in the field and the factors that modulate such exposure. We studied the abundance of pesticide-treated seeds available for birds in the field, the pesticides and their concentrations in treated seeds, and the bird species observed in the field that were feeding on these pesticide-treated seeds. The exposure of red-legged partridge to treated winter cereal seeds was characterized through the analysis of crop and gizzard contents of hunted individuals (n = 189). Moreover, we measured the contribution of cereal seeds in the autumn–winter diet of partridges in order to assess the potential risk of exposure to pesticide-treated seeds. Density of treated seeds on the soil surface after sowing (11·3 ± 1·2 seeds m in the centre of field and 43·4 ± 5·5 seeds m in the headlands) was enough to provide, in an area between 6 and 50 m, doses of six active ingredients above those indicating acute (i.e. a dose capable of killing 50% of individuals of a sensitive species) and / or chronic (no observed effect level) toxicity. Up to 30 bird species were observed consuming treated cereal seeds in recently sown fields. Corn bunting was identified as an appropriate focal passerine species for the risk assessment of pesticide-treated seeds. We found that treated seeds were an important route of pesticide ingestion for red-legged partridge; pesticide residues (six fungicides and two insecticides) were found in 32·3% of crops and gizzards. Cereal seeds represented more than half (53·4 ± 4·3%) of total biomass consumed by partridges from October to February. Synthesis and applications. The field exposure data combined with previous studies about the toxicity to partridges of using pesticide-treated seeds point to an unacceptable risk of this practice to farmland birds. Our results suggest that the prophylactic use of pesticide-coated seeds should be avoided, with the approval of this treatment considered on a case-by-case basis and accompanied with specific measures to minimize risks of adverse effects on avian communities.
This study was financed by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (Project OAPN 755/2012), CSIC (Intramural 201330E041),FEDENCA (Real Federación Española de Caza) and Oficina Nacional de la Caza with the partnership of Fundación Biodiversidad.
Peer reviewed
Peer Reviewed
2016-12-20T10:24:22Z
2016-12-20T10:24:22Z
2016
2016-12-20T10:24:22Z
artículo
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12668
e-issn: 1365-2664
issn: 0021-8901
Journal of Applied Ecology 53(5): 1373-1381 (2016)
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/141685
10.1111/1365-2664.12668
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004336
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003339
López-Antia, Ana; Feliú, Jordi; Camarero, Pablo R.; Ortiz-Santaliestra, Manuel E.; Mateo, Rafael (2016): Data from: Risk assessment of pesticide seed treatment for farmland birds using refined field data [Dataset]; Dryad; Version 1; https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kf245
Sí
none
British Ecological Society
John Wiley & Sons