Lifelines Project: Char Valley
2.7       Scientific Background

2.7.1      Overview
Wildlife species have been of concern for many years: plants, birds, mammals, insects; moths, butterflies and beetles are all affected. Some species have increased but the majority have declined, some very significantly (Eaton, M. 2015) (JNCC, 2019). (See also Notes below).Humans and wildlife are inextricably linked. Wildlife and association with nature undeniably provide us with many benefits, ranging from food, general wellbeing, medicine and “ecosystems services” such as crop pollination.
Lowland England is a very crowded and “heavily managed” environment but with coordination and minor adjustments in our management methods we can improve the lot of wildlife, which will also benefit us both directly and indirectly.
 
Buglife is campaigning to stop the use of cypermethrin and systemic neonicotinoids in agriculture​

1.2      Effects of pesticides
1.2.1     Effects of pesticides on insect populations
  • According to the report ‘Insect declines and why they matter’ written by David Goulson, Professor of Biology at the University of Sussex, and published by the South West Wildlife Trusts in 2019, “recent evidence suggests that abundance of insects may have fallen by 50% or more”. It goes on to say that:
 “The causes of insect declines are much debated, but almost certainly include habitat loss, chronic exposure to mixtures of pesticides, and climate change. The consequences are clear; if insect declines are not halted, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems will collapse, with profound consequences for human wellbeing.

The good news is that it is not too late; few insects have gone extinct so far, and populations can rapidly recover. We urgently need to stop all routine and unnecessary use of pesticides and start to build a nature recovery network by creating more and better connected, insect friendly habitat in our gardens, towns, cities and countryside.”

“There is now a strong scientific consensus that the decline of insects, other arthropods and biodiversity as a whole, is a very real and serious threat that society must urgently address.”  In an article published on 6th January 2020, the authors say:
“We hereby propose a global ‘roadmap’ for insect conservation and recovery. This entails the immediate implementation of several ‘no-regret’ measures that will act to slow or stop insect declines.”
One of these steps is: Phase out pesticide use.

“Over 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction… over the next few decades.” The article highlights four main causes including, habitat loss, climate change and “pollution, mainly that by synthetic pesticides and fertilisers”

1.2.2     Effects of pesticides on biodiversity
  1. In 2017 the International Journal Nature: Plants reported that:
“We estimated that total pesticide use could be reduced by 42% without any negative effects on both productivity and profitability in 59% of farms from our national network. This corresponded to an average reduction of 37, 47 and 60% of herbicide, fungicide and insecticide use, respectively.”

In a 2019 article in the Journal Frontiers in Environmental Science, the authors wrote:
“There is agreement in the scientific community that pesticides are a central responsible factor for the observed terrestrial biodiversity declines.”

1.2.3     Effects of pesticides on human health
There are numerous concerns about the damaging effects of pesticides – especially glyphosate (marketed as Roundup) – on human health. According to an official World Health Organisation monograph (IARC, 2015), “there is convincing evidence that glyphosate also can cause cancer in laboratory animals” and that “glyphosate also caused DNA and chromosomal damage in human cells…” .

1.3      Factors affecting biodiversity and abundance
1.3.1     Land management practicesThere are many land-management practices that are known to affect biodiversity and abundance, each one a subject in itself. In the context of this discussion, adopting practices that are known to be beneficial will help:
  • Develop and enhance an appropriate range of undisturbed areas along corridors to link habitats. These will include species-rich grasslands and hay meadows, managed headlands, restored woodlands, woodland margins and coppice areas, ponds and wet areas.
  • Ensure a range of plants with flowering times to feed pollinators through the year.
  • Remove barriers to animal movement where possible.
  • Increase amount of carbon fixed in the ‘system’ by big, long-lived plants i.e. trees and increasing soil, estuarine and marine organic matter and appropriate land cultivations. Cultivations increase oxidation of soil organic matter oxidation.
Practices that are known to be detrimental include:
  • Removal of cover and food from habitats at sensitive times of year i.e. frequent flailing of hedges.
  • Inappropriate use/release of biologically active chemicals i.e. pesticides and others…
  • Nutrient-rich run-off into watercourses and water bodies.
  • Inappropriate soil management leading to soil erosion and organic matter removal from soil.
It is important not to introduce or allow the spread of invasive species (incomplete list):

Invasive plants:
American skunk cabbage
Floating pennywort
Giant hogweed
Himalayan balsam
Japanese knotweed
New Zealand pigmyweed
Rhododendron ponticum
Water primrose

Invasive animals:
American bullfrog
American mink
Asian hornet
Grey squirrel
Muntjac
Quagga mussel
Signal crayfish

1.4      References
Eaton M., Aebischer N., Brown A., Hearn R., Lock L., Musgrove A., Noble D., Stroud D. and Gregory G. (2015). Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the population status of birds in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. British Birds 108 • Dec 2015 • 708–746. (https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/projects/bird-surveys-in-the-uk/)

JNCC (2019). D1c. Status of pollinating insects. JNCC resource dataset. (https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/ukbi-d1c-pollinating-insects/ accessed 16/01/2020.)

IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer - World Health Organization), IARC Monographs Volume 112, 2015 (https://www.iarc.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/MonographVolume112-1.pdf

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