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posted by martyb on Monday September 23 2019, @12:53AM   Printer-friendly
from the better-go-find-me-some-more-worms dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Disappearance of meadows and prairies, expansion of farmlands, use of pesticide blamed for 29 percent drop since 1970.

The number of birds in the United States and Canada has dropped by an astonishing 29 percent, or almost three billion, since 1970, scientists said on Thursday, saying their findings signalled a widespread ecological crisis.

Grassland birds were the most affected, because of the disappearance of meadows and prairies and the extension of farmlands, as well as the growing use of pesticides that kill insects that affects the entire food chain.

"Birds are in crisis," Peter Marra, director of the Georgetown Environment Initiative at Georgetown University and a co-author of the study published in the journal Science, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Forest birds and species that occur in a wider variety of habitats - known as habitat generalists - are also disappearing.

"We see the same thing happening the world over, the intensification of agriculture and land use changes are placing pressure on these bird populations," Ken Rosenberg, an ornithologist at Cornell University and principal co-author of the paper in Science told AFP news agency.

"Now, we see fields of corn and other crops right up to the horizon, everything is sanitised and mechanised, there's no room left for birds, fauna and nature."

More than 90 percent of the losses are from just 12 species including sparrows, warblers, blackbirds, and finches.

The figures mirror declines seen elsewhere, notably France, where the National Observatory of Biodiversity estimates there was a 30 percent decline in grassland birds between 1989 and 2017.


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  • (Score: 1) by Trilkhai on Monday September 23 2019, @03:03AM (1 child)

    by Trilkhai (8530) on Monday September 23 2019, @03:03AM (#897388)

    I'm much more concerned about the impact of developers being able to convert open land of all types — including small farms/ranches — into cheap housing with only a tiny postage-stamp-sized yard if any at all. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather see open meadows than farms/ranches, but those small farms can at least still provide trees, brush, pastureland, etc. for the insects to develop and birds live in, and the old homes with huge yards do to a (much) lesser degree; closely-spaced homes, apartment buildings, etc. don't even offer that much.

    When I was growing up in the suburb I live in, we heard crickets & grasshoppers every night during summer, saw all kinds of birds, had tons of frogs, were regularly visited by opossums (which loved the wide variety of fruit trees the 60s developers had installed in the big backyards), and so forth. Now I can't remember the last time I saw a frog or opossum, it's rare to hear even one cricket or grasshopper during summer nights, and the birds are pretty much limited to blackbirds, gray finches, an occasional robin, scrubjay, owl, or small hawks. OTOH, the part of town my brother lives in has instead become closely acquainted with the bold rats that used to live in the 'creek-front' area that was recently turned into apartment buildings & shopping centers...

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday September 24 2019, @04:54AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 24 2019, @04:54AM (#897964) Journal

    I'm much more concerned about the impact of developers being able to convert open land of all types — including small farms/ranches — into cheap housing with only a tiny postage-stamp-sized yard if any at all.

    Well, think of all the poor people they're helping. That impact isn't purely negative.