Use of dry bean fields by birds and mammals in Brazil: Insights from a field study and its use in pesticide risk assessment

The relationship between agriculture and wildlife can be both synergetic and challenging, as the increased surface of agricultural land makes it increasingly important for agriculture and wildlife to coexist. This study aims to describe the use of freshly drilled dry bean fields by birds and mammals in Brazilian Cerrado and Atlantic Forest sites and their diversity and abundance within in-crop and off-crop areas (with native permanent vegetation and other surrounding crop fields) at four different farms. A comprehensive survey was conducted, using various sampling methods, including point counts, foraging counts, trail cameras, and occasional encounters. In all, contacts for 12 518 birds across 306 species and 313 mammals across 34 species were registered. The off-crop areas exhibited greater species richness, abundance, and diversity than the in-crop areas on all farms. For birds, 47 species were recorded in-crop, of which 15 were classified as insectivores, 15 as granivores, seven as omnivores, seven as carnivores, and three as frugivores. The number of in-crop observations per species was small. The abundance off-crop was greater for 31 species observed in-crop, indicating that dry bean fields are probably not a preferred habitat for those species. Species classified as granivorous are most likely to feed on dry bean seeds. However, almost all granivorous species observed in-crop areas are too small to be able to feed on dry bean seeds. For mammals, nine species were recorded in-crop, of which four were classified as carnivores, three as omnivores, one as insectivore, and one as granivore. Additionally, despite the considerable effort in this study, no evidence was found that birds and mammals feed on dry bean seeds. The results highlight the importance of off-crop areas in dry bean fields, characterized by a more diverse and abundant bird community than in-crop. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:864-874. © 2023 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).