glyphosate resistance has become a standard ingredient in
genetically modified crops, which has further increased the
use of glyphosate in countries where the use of genetically
modified organisms (GMO) is permitted [11,12].
Ideally, glyphosate use should increase profitability of
agriculture and decrease load from herbicides more noxious
to humans and the environment. However, the actual
amounts of glyphosate used are increasing globally and in
many areas there is a tendency to use it as the sole
herbicide [13]. The proposed insignificance of the impacts
of glyphosate on the environment, agriculture and even
human health has been recently challenged [14,15]. It is
obvious that a thorough understanding of the consequences
of widespread glyphosate use in target ecosystems
and its ramifications for surrounding areas is lacking. In
this opinion article, we focus on biological consequences of
intensive glyphosate use especially in northern ecosystems
in which glyphosate may persist longer because of the
prevalent soil types and climatic conditions, and thus have
unforeseen consequences on nontarget organisms. We propose
that these consequences have largely been underestimated
due to the limited study conditions.