Wetlands pepper the landscape in western Canada and a biologist says a pesticide is contaminating them and threatening the ecosystem. Christy Morrissey of the University of Saskatchewan is researching the problem and says that neonicotinoids are being widely used on the cereal crops of the three Prairie provinces. They are water soluble and are running off into the wetlands that are interspersed with fields.
“Potentially devastating domino effect”
The chemical kills insects which in turn could decimate the birds which depend on them for food. This could have a potentially devastating “domino effect,” says Morrissey.
“This is huge,” she adds. “The impact on biodiversity could be probably bigger than we’ve ever seen before if we keep going at this rate.”
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