Study: GM Crops Could Affect Birds

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 31 -- Using crops geneticallyengineered to resist weedkillers might harm birds — notbecause the genetic changes are harmful but because killingweeds means less food for birds, researchers said today.

Some farms where such crops are used could see a 90 percentdrop in the number of weeds — a boon to farmers but bad newsfor hungry birds, Andrew Watkinson of the University of EastAnglia in Norwich, England, said.

Watkinson and his colleagues used a computer model to predictthe effects that planting a weedkiller-resistant sugar beetwould have on a weed known as lamb’s quarters or fat hen. The weed’sscientific name is Chenopodium album, and its seeds are a majorfood source for skylarks.

“We predict that weed populations might be reduced to lowlevels or practically eradicated, depending on the exact formof management,” the scientists wrote in their report, published in thejournal Science.

Severe Reduction in Food Possible

“Consequent effects on the local use of fields by birdsmight be severe, because such reductions represent a major lossof food resources,” the report stated.

The scientists said the effects on overall bird populations woulddepend on whether a few large farms used the geneticallymodified (GM) crops in just a few places, or if such crops wereplanted by many different farmers.

“These results probably apply widely to other crops, weedsand seed-eating birds,” Watkinson said.

But he stressed the results would be seen as a result ofany weed management practice. It is just that using GM crops isa particularly effective way to get rid of weeds.

Watkinson noted that bird populations in Britain have fallen byup to 90 percent in the last 25 years.

“It seems likely that the widespread introduction ofherbicide-tolerant crops will result in further declines formany farmland birds unless other mitigating measures aretaken,” he said.

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