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. 2025 Feb;32(6):2757-2772.
doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-26952-z. Epub 2023 Apr 26.

Main conclusions and perspectives from the collective scientific assessment of the effects of plant protection products on biodiversity and ecosystem services along the land-sea continuum in France and French overseas territories

Stéphane Pesce  1 , Laure Mamy  2 , Wilfried Sanchez  3 , Marcel Amichot  4 , Joan Artigas  5 , Stéphanie Aviron  6 , Carole Barthélémy  7 , Rémy Beaudouin  8 , Carole Bedos  2 , Annette Bérard  9 , Philippe Berny  10 , Cédric Bertrand  11 , Colette Bertrand  2 , Stéphane Betoulle  12 , Eve Bureau-Point  13 , Sandrine Charles  14 , Arnaud Chaumot  15 , Bruno Chauvel  16 , Michael Coeurdassier  17 , Marie-France Corio-Costet  18 , Marie-Agnès Coutellec  19 , Olivier Crouzet  20 , Isabelle Doussan  21 , Juliette Faburé  2 , Clémentine Fritsch  17 , Nicola Gallai  22 , Patrice Gonzalez  23 , Véronique Gouy  24 , Mickael Hedde  25 , Alexandra Langlais  26 , Fabrice Le Bellec  27 , Christophe Leboulanger  28 , Christelle Margoum  24 , Fabrice Martin-Laurent  16 , Rémi Mongruel  29 , Soizic Morin  30 , Christian Mougin  2 , Dominique Munaron  28 , Sylvie Nélieu  2 , Céline Pelosi  9 , Magali Rault  31 , Sergi Sabater  32 , Sabine Stachowski-Haberkorn  33 , Elliott Sucré  28   34 , Marielle Thomas  35 , Julien Tournebize  36 , Sophie Leenhardt  37
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Free article

Main conclusions and perspectives from the collective scientific assessment of the effects of plant protection products on biodiversity and ecosystem services along the land-sea continuum in France and French overseas territories

Stéphane Pesce et al. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2025 Feb.
Free article

Erratum in

Abstract

Preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services is critical for sustainable development and human well-being. However, an unprecedented erosion of biodiversity is observed and the use of plant protection products (PPP) has been identified as one of its main causes. In this context, at the request of the French Ministries responsible for the Environment, for Agriculture and for Research, a panel of 46 scientific experts ran a nearly 2-year-long (2020-2022) collective scientific assessment (CSA) of international scientific knowledge relating to the impacts of PPP on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The scope of this CSA covered the terrestrial, atmospheric, freshwater, and marine environments (with the exception of groundwater) in their continuity from the site of PPP application to the ocean, in France and French overseas territories, based on international knowledge produced on or transposable to this type of context (climate, PPP used, biodiversity present, etc.). Here, we provide a brief summary of the CSA's main conclusions, which were drawn from about 4500 international publications. Our analysis finds that PPP contaminate all environmental matrices, including biota, and cause direct and indirect ecotoxicological effects that unequivocally contribute to the decline of certain biological groups and alter certain ecosystem functions and services. Levers for action to limit PPP-driven pollution and effects on environmental compartments include local measures from plot to landscape scales and regulatory improvements. However, there are still significant gaps in knowledge regarding environmental contamination by PPPs and its effect on biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services. Perspectives and research needs are proposed to address these gaps.

Keywords: Biocontrol; Ecological risk assessment; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Expertise; Modelling; Pesticides.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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