Environmental impact of transgenic crops
A scientific communication reporting the deleterious effects on monarch butterfly larvae of a transgenic corn hybrid expressing a Bacillus thuringiensis δ-endotoxin has caused, a few years ago, an unprecedented controversy on the environmental impact of recombinant traits introduced into the genome of agricultural crops. This review, complementing a review in this same issue on transgene migration in the environment (Michaud 2005), addresses the impact of these new traits on the development and survival of different non-target living organisms present in the environment. The impact of these new traits is first considered at the ecosystem level, in relation with the effects of current agricultural practices on field biodiversity. The impact of these traits is then considered in relation with the specific interactions established in the field or under laboratory conditions between the modified plant and a collection of model organisms including secondary herbivorous pests, predatory arthropods and different species of the soil community.