Pesticide use on cereals and the survival of grey partridge chicks: a field experiment.

Abstract

1. A field experiment was undertaken to test whether the herbicides and fungicides used on cereal fields reduce the chick survival of grey partridges.
2. Mean brood size and the abundance of insects as food for partridge chicks were significantly higher where small areas of cereal fields were left unsprayed than on completely sprayed fields.
3. The implications of these findings for the conservation of the grey partridge are discussed.