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Project properties |
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| Title | Pesticide effects in soil biota and soil functions |
| Group | Soil Physics and Land Management group |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 24-39 |
| Supervisor(s) | Violette Geissen, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga & Tamas Salanki |
| Examiner(s) | Violette Geissen |
| Contact info | violette.geissen@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2021/05/25 |
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| Description | Pesticides are heavily used in agriculture to reduce crop losses due to pests, weeds and pathogens. Between 1961 and 2011 the global agricultural production more than tripled, largely due to pesticide use. Currently, global pesticide use exceeds 4 million tonnes per year Such long term and intensive pesticides use raises major health and environmental concerns since part of applied products does not reach the target, being instead distributed into the environment. Several pesticide active substances and/or their metabolites are persistent, bio accumulative and/or toxic to non-target species.
The recently launched SPRINT project will make an internationally valid contribution to assess integrated risks and impacts of pesticides on environment and human health, both at regional and European level SPRINT will inform and accelerate the adoption of innovative transition pathways towards more sustainable plant protection in the context of a global health approach https://sprint-h2020.eu/ Research Objective/Question How do pesticides affect earthworms and coleoptera biology, and the ecosystem services in which they are involved? What is expected from the student Perform eco toxicological tests with native and standards earthworms, as well with coleoptera (test cocktails, and new endpoints) |
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