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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.11.30.691396

Eco-evolutionary feedback of adaptive evolution to a pesticide worsens the impact of a pesticide switch in a pivotal freshwater non-target species

Almeida, R. A.·Fajgenblat, M.·Lemmens, P.·Cuypers, K.·Maes, J.·Brans, K. I.·De Meester, L.
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Abstract

Pest management often requires the switches of insecticides, sequentially exposing non-target populations to different compounds. In a two-phased experiment, we assessed whether exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos induces rapid evolution in the non-target species Daphnia magna, and quantified the response of control and pre-exposed populations to a second exposure to the same pesticide, another pesticide with the same mode of action (malathion), or a pesticide with another mode of action (deltamethrin). Chlorpyrifos selection induced rapid shifts in genotype composition and reduced genotype richness, and strongly influenced population development following the second exposure. Chlorpyrifos-selected populations outperformed control populations when subsequently exposed to chlorpyrifos and malathion, but underperformed when exposed to deltamethrin. Our results highlight an eco-evolutionary feedback in which rapid adaptive responses to a pesticide worsens the response when exposed to a different type of pesticide in non-target species, increasing vulnerability to common agricultural practices.

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Almeida, R. A., Fajgenblat, M., Lemmens, P., Cuypers, K., Maes, J., Brans, K. I., De Meester, L.. 2025-11-30. Eco-evolutionary feedback of adaptive evolution to a pesticide worsens the impact of a pesticide switch in a pivotal freshwater non-target species. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.30.691396

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