[Effects of Apple Orchard Management Strategies on the Great Tit (Parus major) in Southeastern France; Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry], 2005; Vol. 24(11): 2846-2852
Newswise — In the ongoing debate over organic versus inorganic farming, the great tit would choose organic. This common European bird exhibited negative indirect effects because of pesticide use in apple orchards. The 3-year study in southeastern France is published in the latest issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
The great tit (Parus major) is a cavity-nesting, insectivorous bird with a black and white face pattern and a broad black stripe running from its throat down the middle of its bright yellow belly. Between 40 and 50 million breeding pairs can be found throughout Europe.
Apples are the most intensively sprayed crop in France where apple orchards cover an area of approximately 54,000 hectares. Researchers used three different orchard agroecosystems to study the impact of three different growing strategies on the reproduction of the great tit. The first and most often implemented is the conventional management strategy, a highly manipulated system with extensive pesticide use. The second, integrated pest management (IPM) strategy, involves a restricted use of chemical compounds against Cydia pomonella and uses alternative practices with low environmental impact, such as insect mating disruption. The third is the organic management strategy, which excludes pesticides and uses a biological insecticide.
The study showed that great tits produced more young in organic orchards than in those where pesticides are used. This difference was not due to direct effects of the pesticides on the birds, but rather to the loss of insect prey that were killed by pesticides. As a result, there were both more nesting pairs and fewer abandoned nests in the organic apple orchards, which had greater food resources to support greater numbers of this insectivorous bird.
To read the entire study, visit: http://www.allenpress.com/pdf/entc_24_1107_2846_2852.pdf
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry is the monthly journal of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). For more information about the Society, visit http://www.setac.org.
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