Journal or Publishing Institution: Forest Ecology and Management
Study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112721003479
Author(s): Botten, N., Wood, L.J. and Werner, J.R.
Article Type: Peer Reviewed Study
Abstract:
Glyphosate-based herbicides are highly effective, non-selective, and broad-spectrum herbicides that have been used in British Columbia’s forest industry since the early 1980’s. Over this time, long-term persistence of glyphosate has not been measured, largely due to the inability to analyze glyphosate at low concentrations. Given the advancements in analytical techniques that are now available, we have extended the persistence curve of glyphosate to elucidate the actual length of time of persistence in northern British Columbia, rather than relying on estimations of persistence based on half-life curves that are quite often modelled from incomparable environments. We collected plant tissues from five forest understory perennial species growing in two distinct biogeoclimatic regions of northern BC to map out how glyphosate residue quantities change over time according to species, plant tissue type, and climate regime. We found that residues persisted for up to 12 years in some tissue types, and that root tissues generally retained glyphosate residues longer than shoot tissue types. We also found that samples from the colder, more northern biogeoclimatic zone investigated retained significantly higher levels of glyphosate for longer than samples collected from the warmer biogeoclimatic zone.
Keywords: Glyphosate, Sub-lethal herbicide, Persistence, AMPA, Forest ecology
Citation:
Botten, N., Wood, L.J. and Werner, J.R., 2021. Glyphosate remains in forest plant tissues for a decade or more. Forest Ecology and Management, 493, p.119259.
Record ID: 2683
