Britain's wildlife at 'increasingly fragile' state, food production in jeopardy

Britain’s food production is at risk due to the increasing fragile state of its wildlife, with animals playing significant role to pollinate crops or fight pests at risk of disappearing more rapidly than others, a new study shows. Scientists warn the British wildlife is at the most dangerous state ever recorded in the past 40 years.

The findings come from the analysis of millions of records provided since 1970. These include the changing fortunes of nearly 4,500 species living in England, Wales and Scotland between 1970 and 2009.

Scientists looked into several groups of species based on their key ecosystem functions, such as pollination, pest control, cultural value, decomposition and carbon sequestration. The study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

The study, considered the largest, most comprehensive report assembled for any country worldwide, shows that species helping pollination and pest control experienced significant declines. Plants and animals considered to have cultural importance to humans, including birds, butterflies and hedgehogs, were also found at risk of decreasing numbers.

"The picture that emerges is of an increasingly fragile system, particularly in species that do vital jobs for humans,” said lead researcher Dr Tom Oliver, from the University of Reading. “Unless efforts are made to reverse some of these declines, we face a future where we will be less confident that we can effectively grow our food."

Conservation efforts should focus on reas with strong evidence of declining fortunes, said researcher James Bullock, a professor at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Oxfordshire. "Conservation actions, such as wildlife friendly farming, can avoid the loss of biodiversity and the resulting erosion of the pollination, pest control and other benefits we derive from nature."

Oliver said that individuals could help prevent the declining number of wildlife in the British Isles. People could help with conservation efforts of making wildlife-friendly gardens, buying food grown in a sustainable way to wildlife and by helping to collect data on wildlife.

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