Biodiversity in cotton fields is another environmental benefit of the modern technology being employed in cotton production.  It has been documented to have a positive effect on the number and diversity of beneficial insects in cotton fields (Carpenter, J., A. Felsot, T. Goode, M. Hammig, D. Onstad, and S. Sankula. 2002. Comparative Environmental Impacts of Biotechnology-derived and Traditional Soybean, Corn, and Cotton Crops. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa. www.cast-science.org). In addition the adoption of no-till farming practices creates additional wildlife habitat for birds and other wildlife. Birds and mammals thrive in the protective residue of no-till fields. For example, quail need just 4.2 hours to find and eat the insects necessary for survival – less than one-fifth the time it takes to obtain the same number of insect in a conventional-till field. (Conservation Tillage and Plant Biotechnology: How New Technologies Can Improve the Environment By Reducing the Need to Plow, Conservation Tillage Information Center, February 23, 2002, press release and study, www.ctic.purdue.edu/CTIC/Biotech.html).

The decrease in pesticide use has been linked to significant increases in songbird populations that frequent cotton-growing regions. Since biotech cotton came on the market in 1996 in the United States these songbird populations have increased 20% in Arizona, 37% in Mississippi, 34% in Alabama and 10% in Texas according to the North American Bird Breeding Survey Byford, Jim. “GMO Systems Good for Wildlife,” Southeast Farm Press, December 18, 2002,
www.biotechknowledge.com/BIOTECH/knowcenter.nsf/ID/22847FA28E7BD0E186256
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Other Resources:
Council for Biotechnology Information (http://www.whybiotech.com/)