Towards a landscape scale management of pesticides: ERA using changes in modelled occupancy and abundance to assess long-term population impacts of pesticides

TY - JOUR

T1 - Towards a landscape scale management of pesticides

T2 - ERA using changes in modelled occupancy and abundance to assess long-term population impacts of pesticides

AU - Topping, Christopher John

AU - Craig, Peter S.

AU - de Jong, Frank

AU - Klein, Michael

AU - Laskowski, Ryszard

AU - Manachini, Barbara

AU - Pieper, Silvia

AU - Smith, Rob

AU - Sousa, Jose Paulo

AU - Streissl, Franz

AU - Swarowsky, Klaus

AU - Tiktak, Aaldrik

AU - van der Linden, Ton

PY - 2015/12/15

Y1 - 2015/12/15

N2 - Pesticides are regulated in Europe and this process includes an environmental risk assessment (ERA) for nontarget arthropods (NTA). Traditionally a non-spatial or field trial assessment is used. In this study we exemplify the introduction of a spatial context to the ERA as well as suggest a way in which the results of complex models, necessary for proper inclusion of spatial aspects in the ERA, can be presented and evaluated easily using abundance and occupancy ratios (AOR). We used an agent-based simulation system and an existing model for a wide-spread carabid beetle (Bembidion lampros), to evaluate the impact of a fictitious highly-toxic pesticide on population density and the distribution of beetles in time and space. Landscape structure and field margin management were evaluated by comparing scenario-based ERAs for the beetle. Source-sink dynamics led to an off-crop impact even when no pesticide was present off-crop. In addition, the impacts increased with multiyear application of the pesticide whereas current ERA considers only maximally one year. These results further indicated a complex interaction between landscape structure and pesticide effect in time, both in-crop and off-crop, indicating the need for NTA ERA to be conducted at landscape-and multi-season temporal-scales. Use of AOR indices to compare ERA outputs facilitated easy comparison of scenarios, allowing simultaneous evaluation of impacts and planning of mitigation measures. The landscape and population ERA approach also demonstrates that there is a potential to change from regulation of a pesticide in isolation, towards the consideration of pesticide management at landscape scales and provision of biodiversity benefits via inclusion and testing of mitigation measures in authorisation procedures. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

AB - Pesticides are regulated in Europe and this process includes an environmental risk assessment (ERA) for nontarget arthropods (NTA). Traditionally a non-spatial or field trial assessment is used. In this study we exemplify the introduction of a spatial context to the ERA as well as suggest a way in which the results of complex models, necessary for proper inclusion of spatial aspects in the ERA, can be presented and evaluated easily using abundance and occupancy ratios (AOR). We used an agent-based simulation system and an existing model for a wide-spread carabid beetle (Bembidion lampros), to evaluate the impact of a fictitious highly-toxic pesticide on population density and the distribution of beetles in time and space. Landscape structure and field margin management were evaluated by comparing scenario-based ERAs for the beetle. Source-sink dynamics led to an off-crop impact even when no pesticide was present off-crop. In addition, the impacts increased with multiyear application of the pesticide whereas current ERA considers only maximally one year. These results further indicated a complex interaction between landscape structure and pesticide effect in time, both in-crop and off-crop, indicating the need for NTA ERA to be conducted at landscape-and multi-season temporal-scales. Use of AOR indices to compare ERA outputs facilitated easy comparison of scenarios, allowing simultaneous evaluation of impacts and planning of mitigation measures. The landscape and population ERA approach also demonstrates that there is a potential to change from regulation of a pesticide in isolation, towards the consideration of pesticide management at landscape scales and provision of biodiversity benefits via inclusion and testing of mitigation measures in authorisation procedures. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

KW - ALMaSS

KW - Source-sink dynamics

KW - Bembidion lampros

KW - Environmental risk assessment

KW - Landscape-scale risk assessment

KW - Abundance Occupancy Ratio index

KW - RISK-ASSESSMENT

KW - TERRESTRIAL ARTHROPOD

KW - HABITAT

KW - ECOTOXICOLOGY

KW - PROTECTION

KW - FARMLAND

KW - FIELD

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.152

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.152

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 26318547

SN - 0048-9697

VL - 537

SP - 159

EP - 169

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

ER -