Space Industry and Business News  
FLORA AND FAUNA
Bird populations in rural France 'collapsing'
By Marlowe HOOD
Paris (AFP) March 20, 2018

Bird populations across an eerily quiet French countryside have collapsed, on average, by a third over the last decade-and-a-half, alarmed researchers reported on Tuesday.

Dozens of species have seen their numbers decline, in some cases by two-thirds, the scientists detailed in a pair of studies, one national in scope and the other covering a large agricultural region in central France.

"The situation is catastrophic," said Benoit Fontaine, a conservation biologist at France's National Museum of Natural History and co-author of one of the studies.

"Our countryside is in the process of becoming a veritable desert," he said in a communique released by the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), which also contributed to the findings.

The common white throat, the ortolan bunting, the Eurasian skylark and other once-ubiquitous species have all fallen off by at least a third, according a detailed, annual census initiated at the start of the century.

A migratory song bird, the meadow pipit, has declined by nearly 70 percent.

The museum described the pace and extent of the wipe-out as "a level approaching an ecological catastrophe."

The primary culprit, researchers speculate, is the intensive use of pesticides on vast tracts of monoculture crops, especially wheat and corn.

The problem is not that birds are being poisoned, but that the insects on which they depend for food have disappeared.

- Deteriorating eco-systems -

"There are hardly any insects left, that's the number one problem," said Vincent Bretagnolle, a CNRS ecologist at the Centre for Biological Studies in Chize.

Recent research, he noted, has uncovered similar trends across Europe, estimating that flying insects have declined by 80 percent, and bird populations has dropped by more than 400 million in 30 years.

Despite a government plan to cut pesticide use in half by 2020, sales in France have climbed steadily, reaching more than 75,000 tonnes of active ingredient in 2014, according to European Union figures.

"What is really alarming, is that all the birds in an agricultural setting are declining at the same speed, even 'generalist' birds," which also thrive in other settings such as wooded areas, said Bretagnolle.

"That shows that the overall quality of the agricultural eco-system is deteriorating."

Figures from the national survey -- which relies on a network of hundreds of volunteer ornithologists -- indicate the die-off gathered pace in 2016 and 2017.

Drivers of the drop in bird populations extend beyond the depletion of their main food source, the scientists said.

Shrinking woodlands, the absence of the once common practice of letting fields lie fallow and especially rapidly expanding expanses of mono-crops have each played a role.

"If the situation is not yet irreversible, all the actors in the agriculture sector must work together to change their practices," Fontaine said.


Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


FLORA AND FAUNA
African leaders call on EU to shut ivory trade
Johannesburg (AFP) March 16, 2018
Thirty-two African countries on Friday called on the European Union to stop its ivory trade at a conference in Botswana aimed at saving African elephants. Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Ali Bongo of Gabon and host Ian Khama of Botswana wrote a petition along with representatives of 29 other countries calling on the "EU to close its ivory market". According to global advocacy group Avaaz, the EU is the world's biggest exporter of legal ivory but that is thought to fuel poaching. There ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

FLORA AND FAUNA
On The Horizon: A Space Renaissance

CosmoQuest releases Mappers 2.0 for crater mapping

A new way to combine soft materials

ORNL researchers design novel method for energy-efficient deep neural networks

FLORA AND FAUNA
Intelsat EpicNG helping redefine capabilities of airborne applications

Studies prove superior performance of HTS for government customers

Airbus to provide near real-time access to its satellite data

Increasing Situational Awareness with Fortion TacticalC2

FLORA AND FAUNA
FLORA AND FAUNA
Indra Expands With Four New Stations The Ground Segment Managing Galileo Satellites

GMV leads a project for application of EGNOS to maritime safety

Why Russia is one step ahead of US Army's plans for future GPS

Europe claims 100 million users for Galileo satnav system

FLORA AND FAUNA
Leonardo to build 28 helicopters for Qatari military

Senegal helicopter crash toll rises to 8

Lockheed awarded $1.5B contract for work on F-35 air systems

Army taps Airbus for 35 UH-72A Lakota helicopters

FLORA AND FAUNA
Precision atom qubits achieve major quantum computing milestone

Largest molecular spin found close to a quantum phase transition

Researchers find 'critical' security flaws in AMD chips

New speed record for trapped-ion 'building blocks' of quantum computers

FLORA AND FAUNA
ESA testing detection of floating plastic litter from orbit

Scientist eyes Chinese satellites to help world tackle air pollution

Spring comes to Tokyo with first cherry blossoms

Full house for EDRS

FLORA AND FAUNA
Paris to study pollution-busting free transport

Large-scale climatic warming could increase persistent haze in Beijing

Researchers turn plastic pollution into cleaners

Tonnes of garbage cleaned up from Galapagos coast









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.