Education & Careers Field Work New ETCC Chair index2 resources issue36 issue35 issue32 issue33 Issue 34 teg Curriculum material Brine Shrimp Ecology Ecology Poster wildlife.doc Impact of the Channel Tunnel Controlled atmosphere experiments Impact of introduced crayfish The return of the red kite Using microbes in sports Effects of acid rain on Arctic tundra Heathland Ecology Ecology in the home Monitoring road verge vegetation Integrated pest management Southern Ocean food webs Electrofishing to survey fish populations How will global warming affect rare plants? GM crop damage Foodchains & food webs pond poster Ecological Project Compendium Instructions for Authors Careers information Education grants Courses for the Student Teacher Keeping in Touch with Ecology

Investigating environmental effects of genetically modified crops

Modern agriculture has produced large changes in animal and plant communities. Many formerly common arable weeds have almost vanished, while others have increased. Some farmland birds, including the skylark, have declined. Could GM technology produce changes of similar magnitude? Will genes spread from crops to the wild flora, producing 'superweeds'?

Ecologists have not found any evidence that effects will be irreversible or catastrophic, but still approach releases to the environment with extreme caution. They are tackling these questions through observations of pollen transfer and experimental farm-scale trials of GM crops. Predictions are then made about what would happen if the experiments were extended to the wider countryside.

Copyright 2007 British Ecological Society. All Rights Reserved