Recent reports have highlighted the sharp declines in insect populations worldwide with warnings indicating catastrophic consequences for ecosystem functions, should such declines continue. Global pollinator declines were already the target of concern and contributing factors include habitat loss, agriculture intensification with monocultures, pests and pathogens and improper use of pesticides. Studies have demonstrated the negative impacts of pesticides in pollen and nectar on adult pollinators and their larvae. Sustainable practices including agroecological strategies incorporating semi-natural habitat alongside farms and orchards have become common practice and in several geographical regions, wildflower habitats, cover crops, hedge rows etc., have become a norm on farms, raising the potential for pesticide exposure to pollinators through drifts or soil leaching from crops into the semi-natural field margins. Our studies demonstrate the overlap in pollinator diversity between crop fields and pollinator habitats, demonstrating the efficacies of field margins in providing nutritional resources after crop bloom. Studies also demonstrate that cover crops are a sustainable rotational practice and provide food and nesting resource to beneficial organisms. Furthermore, plant secondary metabolites (phytochemicals) from field margins, provide dietary diversity and improve longevity, gut microbiome and pathogen tolerance in pollinators. Our laboratory investigation also revealed a cautionary interaction between a neonicotinoid pesticide and dietary phytochemicals. Some dietary phytochemicals synergize with sub-lethal doses of pesticides leading to increased mortality. These results and the adoption of agroecological practices suggest the need to reevaluate pesticide risk assessment. Acceptable or low-risk doses of pesticides may be dependent on the chemical profiles of specific crop and the plant species mix in the field margins. Integrated pest management becomes a critical tool as sustainable agricultural practices aim to create healthy and functioning agroecosystems.

Rethinking pesticide risk assessments in the face of sustainable agroecosystem management

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ACS Fall 2022

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