Subject: Re: Bird Paper in Journal of Range Mgmt
Date: Jul 18 11:06:04 1995
From: Peter Rauch - peterr at violet.berkeley.edu


>From owner-tweeters at u.washington.edu Mon Jul 17 09:06:29 1995

> These results suggest that grasshopper
>integrated pest management treatments generally have little effect on
>breeding bird communities but some insectivorous bird species may decline
>on rangeland treated with braod-spectrum insecticides because of
>reduction in food base.

I guess I would have written this conclusion a little differently, being
a skeptic....

"These results suggest that these particular grasshopper
integrated pest management treatments were not shown to have much effect on
breeding birds in and around the treatment fields during a short period of
observation after a shortterm period of treatments...."

By "short period" and "shortterm" I mean not longterm, like the way
agriculture is actually practiced --over many years.

The fact remains, these studies didn't study everything about "grasshopper
ipm treatments", and were the conclusion cited out of context, it would
lead naive readers --like the general public, or like the courts if there
is no one around in court to produce counter-arguments to the pesticide
lawyers-- to believe that we know more than we do about pest control
and its effects (inc. longterm effects) on "breeding bird communities".

I am glad, always, that these studies are being carried out, and that
we continue to be concerned for the unintended effects of our cultural
practices on our environment. But, the results of science, like everything,
needs to come with a careful grain of skepticism and interpretation.
Peter