scholarly journals Crop management and agronomic context of the Farm Scale Evaluations of genetically modified herbicide–tolerant crops

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1439) ◽  
pp. 1801-1818 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
G. T. Champion ◽  
M. J. May ◽  
S. Bennett ◽  
D. R. Brooks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oilseed Rape ◽  
Active Ingredient ◽  
Current Practice ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Forage Maize ◽  
Commercial Practice ◽  
Herbicide Tolerant ◽  
Farm Scale ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Weed Emergence

The Farm Scale Evaluations of genetically modified herbicide–tolerant crops (GMHT) were conducted in the UK from 2000 to 2002 on beet (sugar and fodder), spring oilseed rape and forage maize. The management of the crops studied is described and compared with current conventional commercial practice. The distribution of field sites adequately represented the areas currently growing these crops, and the sample contained sites operated at a range of management intensities, including low intensity. Herbicide inputs were audited, and the active ingredients used and the rates and the timings of applications compared well with current practice for both GMHT and conventional crops. Inputs on sugar beet were lower than, and inputs on spring oilseed rape and forage maize were consistent with, national averages. Regression analysis of herbicide–application strategies and weed emergence showed that inputs applied by farmers increased with weed densities in beet and forage maize. GMHT crops generally received only one herbicide active ingredient per crop, later and fewer herbicide sprays and less active ingredient (for beet and maize) than the conventional treatments. The audit of inputs found no evidence of bias.

scholarly journals Responses of plants and invertebrate trophic groups to contrasting herbicide regimes in the Farm Scale Evaluations of genetically modified herbicide–tolerant crops

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1439) ◽  
pp. 1899-1913 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
C. Hawes ◽  
A. J. Haughton ◽  
J. L. Osborne ◽  
D. B. Roy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Oilseed Rape ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Trophic Groups ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Herbicide Tolerant ◽  
Farm Scale ◽  
The Uk

Effects of genetically modified herbicide–tolerant (GMHT) and conventional crop management on invertebrate trophic groups (herbivores, detritivores, pollinators, predators and parasitoids) were compared in beet, maize and spring oilseed rape sites throughout the UK. These trophic groups were influenced by season, crop species and GMHT management. Many groups increased twofold to fivefold in abundance between early and late summer, and differed up to 10–fold between crop species. GMHT management superimposed relatively small (less than twofold), but consistent, shifts in plant and insect abundance, the extent and direction of these effects being dependent on the relative efficacies of comparable conventional herbicide regimes. In general, the biomass of weeds was reduced under GMHT management in beet and spring oilseed rape and increased in maize compared with conventional treatments. This change in resource availability had knock–on effects on higher trophic levels except in spring oilseed rape where herbivore resource was greatest. Herbivores, pollinators and natural enemies changed in abundance in the same directions as their resources, and detritivores increased in abundance under GMHT management across all crops. The result of the later herbicide application in GMHT treatments was a shift in resource from the herbivore food web to the detritivore food web. The Farm Scale Evaluations have demonstrated over 3 years and throughout the UK that herbivores, detritivores and many of their predators and parasitoids in arable systems are sensitive to the changes in weed communities that result from the introduction of new herbicide regimes.

scholarly journals Invertebrates and vegetation of field margins adjacent to crops subject to contrasting herbicide regimes in the Farm Scale Evaluations of genetically modified herbicide–tolerant crops

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1439) ◽  
pp. 1879-1898 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
D. B. Roy ◽  
D. A. Bohan ◽  
A. J. Haughton ◽  
M. O. Hill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oilseed Rape ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Plant Cover ◽  
The Other ◽  
Spray Drift ◽  
Field Margins ◽  
Herbicide Tolerant ◽  
Adjacent Field ◽  
Farm Scale ◽  
The Difference

The effects of management of genetically modified herbicide–tolerant (GMHT) crops on adjacent field margins were assessed for 59 maize, 66 beet and 67 spring oilseed rape sites. Fields were split into halves, one being sown with a GMHT crop and the other with the equivalent conventional non–GMHT crop. Margin vegetation was recorded in three components of the field margins. Most differences were in the tilled area, with fewer smaller effects mirroring them in the verge and boundary. In spring oilseed rape fields, the cover, flowering and seeding of plants were 25%, 44% and 39% lower, respectively, in the GMHT uncropped tilled margins. Similarly, for beet, flowering and seeding were 34% and 39% lower, respectively, in the GMHT margins. For maize, the effect was reversed, with plant cover and flowering 28% and 67% greater, respectively, in the GMHT half. Effects on butterflies mirrored these vegetation effects, with 24% fewer butterflies in margins of GMHT spring oilseed rape. The likely cause is the lower nectar supply in GMHT tilled margins and crop edges. Few large treatment differences were found for bees, gastropods or other invertebrates. Scorching of vegetation by herbicide–spray drift was on average 1.6% on verges beside conventional crops and 3.7% beside GMHT crops, the difference being significant for all three crops.

scholarly journals Invertebrate responses to the management of genetically modified herbicide–tolerant and conventional spring crops. II. Within-field epigeal and aerial arthropods

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1439) ◽  
pp. 1863-1877 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
A. J. Haughton ◽  
G. T. Champion ◽  
C. Hawes ◽  
M. S. Heard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oilseed Rape ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Foraging Preferences ◽  
Crop Type ◽  
Herbicide Tolerant ◽  
Farm Scale ◽  
Herbicide Management

The effects of the management of genetically modified herbicide–tolerant (GMHT) crops on the abundances of aerial and epigeal arthropods were assessed in 66 beet, 68 maize and 67 spring oilseed rape sites as part of the Farm Scale Evaluations of GMHT crops. Most higher taxa were insensitive to differences between GMHT and conventional weed management, but significant effects were found on the abundance of at least one group within each taxon studied. Numbers of butterflies in beet and spring oilseed rape and of Heteroptera and bees in beet were smaller under the relevant GMHT crop management, whereas the abundance of Collembola was consistently greater in all GMHT crops. Generally, these effects were specific to each crop type, reflected the phenology and ecology of the arthropod taxa, were indirect and related to herbicide management. These results apply generally to agriculture across Britain, and could be used in mathematical models to predict the possible long–term effects of the widespread adoption of GMHT technology. The results for bees and butterflies relate to foraging preferences and might or might not translate into effects on population densities, depending on whether adoption leads to forage reductions over large areas. These species, and the detritivore Collembola, may be useful indicator species for future studies of GMHT management.

scholarly journals Effects of genetically modified herbicide-tolerant cropping systems on weed seedbanks in two years of following crops

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.G Firbank ◽  
P Rothery ◽  
M.J May ◽  
S.J Clark ◽  
R.J Scott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oilseed Rape ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
First Year ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Farmland Biodiversity ◽  
Winter Oilseed Rape ◽  
Herbicide Tolerant ◽  
Farm Scale ◽  
Second Year

The Farm Scale Evaluations (FSEs) showed that genetically modified herbicide-tolerant (GMHT) cropping systems could influence farmland biodiversity because of their effects on weed biomass and seed production. Recently published results for winter oilseed rape showed that a switch to GMHT crops significantly affected weed seedbanks for at least 2 years after the crops were sown, potentially causing longer-term effects on other taxa. Here, we seek evidence for similar medium-term effects on weed seedbanks following spring-sown GMHT crops, using newly available data from the FSEs. Weed seedbanks following GMHT maize were significantly higher than following conventional varieties for both the first and second years, while by contrast, seedbanks following GMHT spring oilseed rape were significantly lower over this period. Seedbanks following GMHT beet were smaller than following conventional crops in the first year after the crops had been sown, but this difference was much reduced by the second year for reasons that are not clear. These new data provide important empirical evidence for longer-term effects of GMHT cropping on farmland biodiversity.

scholarly journals Invertebrate responses to the management of genetically modified herbicide–tolerant and conventional spring crops. I. Soil-surface-active invertebrates

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1439) ◽  
pp. 1847-1862 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
D. R. Brooks ◽  
D. A. Bohan ◽  
G. T. Champion ◽  
A. J. Haughton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oilseed Rape ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Invertebrate Species ◽  
Higher Taxa ◽  
Herbicide Tolerant ◽  
Surface Active ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Herbicide Management

The effects of herbicide management of genetically modified herbicide–tolerant (GMHT) beet, maize and spring oilseed rape on the abundance and diversity of soil–surface–active invertebrates were assessed. Most effects did not differ between years, environmental zones or initial seedbanks or between sugar and fodder beet. This suggests that the results may be treated as generally applicable to agricultural situations throughout the UK for these crops. The direction of the effects was evenly balanced between increases and decreases in counts in the GMHT compared with the conventional treatment. Most effects involving a greater capture in the GMHT treatments occurred in maize, whereas most effects involving a smaller capture were in beet and spring oilseed rape. Differences between GMHT and conventional crop herbicide management had a significant effect on the capture of most surface–active invertebrate species and higher taxa tested in at least one crop, and these differences reflected the phenology and ecology of the invertebrates. Counts of carabids that feed on weed seeds were smaller in GMHT beet and spring oilseed rape but larger in GMHT maize. In contrast, collembolan detritivore counts were significantly larger under GMHT crop management.

scholarly journals Feral genetically modified herbicide tolerant oilseed rape from seed import spills: are concerns scientifically justified?

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yann Devos ◽  
Rosemary S. Hails ◽  
Antoine Messéan ◽  
Joe N. Perry ◽  
Geoffrey R. Squire
Keyword(s):  
Oilseed Rape ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Herbicide Tolerant

Weed control in conventional and herbicide tolerant winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus) grown in rotations with winter cereals in the UK

Weed Research ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 408-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
P J W LUTMAN ◽  
J SWEET ◽  
K BERRY ◽  
J LAW ◽  
R PAYNE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brassica Napus ◽  
Weed Control ◽  
Oilseed Rape ◽  
Winter Oilseed Rape ◽  
Winter Cereals ◽  
Herbicide Tolerant ◽  
The Uk
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