Research shows that vineyard fungicides threaten the survival of wild birds

New research reveals that wild birds living in vineyards can be easily contaminated by triazole fungicides, more so than in other agricultural landscapes. Exposure to these fungicides at a level realistic in the field has been found to disrupt hormones and metabolism, which can affect the reproduction and survival of birds. The research will be presented at the SEB Centenary Conference 2023, which will take place in Edinburgh, UK, from 4–7 July.

“We found that birds can be heavily contaminated with triazole in vineyards,” said Dr. Frédéric Angelier, Senior Researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research, France. “This contamination is significantly higher in vineyards compared to other crops, which highlights that contaminants may endanger birds in these specific agroecosystems.”

Triazoles are commonly used fungicides used on agricultural crops such as wheat to get rid of fungal pests by destroying their cell membranes.

While previous studies of wildlife decline have examined the impact of various agricultural industries, the role of vineyards has been largely overlooked. “However, vineyards cover a large proportion of the lands in some European countries and, importantly, they are associated with a large use of fungicides (up to 5-7 times more than other plants),” said Dr. Angelier. “Therefore, vineyards are a very relevant agroecosystem to assess the effects of fungicides on wild birds.”

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

Laboratory investigations of the effects of pesticides on wildlife often use higher pesticide concentrations than would normally be seen in real-world scenarios of adverse reactions. However, measured by Dr. Angelier and his team the real contamination of fungicides in birds living in vineyards, as well as birds from other ecosystems such as forests, cities and farms.

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