High fertiliser use halves numbers of pollinators, world’s longest study finds

Even average use of nitrogen fertilisers cut flower numbers fivefold and halved pollinating insects

Using high levels of common fertilisers on grassland halves pollinator numbers and drastically reduces the number of flowers, research from the world's longest-running ecological experiment has found.

Increasing the amount of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus doused on agricultural grassland reduced flower numbers fivefold and halved the number of pollinating insects, according to the paper by the University of Sussex and Rothamsted Research.