'Safe' levels of pesticide fail to protect biodiversity

The research, which compared the taxonomic richness of invertebrates at a number of contaminated streams in Germany, France and Australia, was led by Mikhail Beketov from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany and ecotoxicologist Ben Kefford from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Kefford was quoted as saying  that there are more stringent pesticide controls in Europe, but more intensive agriculture. He went on to say,

"What is really significant about this discovery is that the decline in number of species is happening at pesticide levels that are considered environmentally safe."

The study was published on 20th June  in the online edition of theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.