Vineyard fungicides threaten the survival of wild birds

New research reveals that wild birds living in vineyards can be particularly susceptible to contamination by triazole fungicides, more so than other agricultural landscapes. Exposure to this fungicide at field-realistic levels was found to disrupt hormones and metabolism, which could impact bird reproduction and survival.

“We found that birds can be highly contaminated by triazoles in vineyards,” said Dr Frédéric Angelier, Senior Researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research, France. “This contamination was much higher in vineyards compared to other crops, emphasizing that contaminants can especially harm birds in this specific agroecosystem.”

Triazole is a commonly used fungicide that is applied to agricultural crops such as wheat to get rid of fungal pests by disrupting their cell membranes.

While previous studies of wildlife decline have assessed the impact of various agricultural industries, the role of vineyards has been largely overlooked. “However, vineyards cover a large part of the land in several European countries and, importantly, they are associated with massive use of fungicides (up to 5-7 times more than other crops),” says Dr Angelier. “Therefore, the vineyard is a very relevant agroecosystem for assessing the impact of fungicides on wild birds.”

For the study, Dr Angelier and his team combined field experiments to measure real-world levels of the fungicide, with controlled laboratory experiments to test the impact of these levels of the fungicide on certain aspects of bird health.

Laboratory investigations of the effects of pesticides on wildlife often use higher concentrations of pesticides than would normally be seen in real-world scenarios to elicit a stronger reaction. However, Dr Angelier and his team measured the actual fungicide contamination in birds living in vineyards, as well as birds from other ecosystems such as forests, cities and crop fields.

They then accurately mimicked fungicide concentrations found in vineyards under laboratory conditions to examine sub-lethal effects on bird physiology and health. “In that sense, our research helps to better understand how wild birds are affected by pesticides in the real world,” said Dr Angelier. “Impacts on reproduction and survival can lead to loss of biodiversity or services (such as birds eating other pests).”