Pesticide use harms wildlife beyond the well-documented effects on bees and butterflies. Amphibians, birds, soil invertebrates, and aquatic animals all suffer from pesticide exposure in agricultural landscapes.
Pesticide welfare impacts extend far beyond individual poisoning events to the cascade effects of reduced prey availability and habitat quality. Birds that cannot find enough insects to feed their chicks suffer from nutritional stress. Amphibians with suppressed immune systems are more vulnerable to chytrid fungus and other pathogens. Aquatic invertebrates poisoned by runoff affect the entire food web above them. These are welfare impacts on wild animals that are diffuse, difficult to attribute to specific applications, and therefore rarely counted in pesticide risk assessments.