Cross-tolerance in amphibians: Wood frog mortality when exposed to three insecticides with a common mode of action

Insecticide tolerance and cross-tolerance in nontarget organisms is often overlooked despite its potential to buffer natural systems from anthropogenic influence. We exposed wood frog tadpoles from 15 populations to three acetylcholine esterase-inhibiting insecticides and found widespread variation in insecticide tolerance and evidence for cross-tolerance to these insecticides. Our results demonstrate that amphibian populations with tolerance to one pesticide may be tolerant to many other pesticides. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2013;32:932936. (c) 2013 SETAC