Although there is a large body of research on pests evolving tolerances for the pesticides meant to destroy them, there have been considerably fewer studies on how non-target animals in these ecosystems may do the same.
Although there is a large body of research on pests evolving tolerances for the pesticides meant to destroy them, there have been considerably fewer studies on how non-target animals in these ecosystems may do the same.
In research recently published, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Rick Relyea, Ph.D., professor of biological sciences and David M. Darrin '40 Senior Endowed Chair, and his team have begun to address this gap in research.
“Because of economic interests, most pesticide research has focused on targeted pests, but we haven’t paid much attention to the non-target species, which represent all the other biodiversity in the world,” said Relyea. “We also examined whether tolerance to pesticides could be rapidly induced in a non-target animal, which is something no one's been looking at because that's not the standard way to do toxicology tests.”
The standard toxicology tests focus on determining the lethal amount of pesticide in one exposure. Relyea and team, on the other hand, first exposed wood frogs to sublethal doses which, in many cases, allowed them to rapidly develop a higher tolerance within a few days.
Read more at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
