Amphibians and pesticides – what research do we need?

Carsten Brühl informs about their recent paper “Amphibians and Plant-Protection Products – What Research and Action Is Needed?”

Common toad during migration to breeding pond (photo by C. Brühl)

Common toad during migration to breeding pond (photo by C. Brühl)

A paper highlighting the discussions at a workshop on amphibian risk towards pesticides that took place last year in Switzerland was just published. The paper gives an overview on the current regulatory situation and status of knowledge and also reflects on the precautionary principle. In an interactive process with all stakeholders risk potentials and main research topics were developed and risk mitigations suggested. The workshop participants concluded that the protection of amphibians should be considered particularly when elaborating new concepts, e.g. as part of the National Action Plan for risk reduction and sustainable use of pesticides.

The paper was authored by Annette Aldrich, Marion Junghans, Caroline Aeberli, Carsten A. Brühl, Franz Streissl & Benedikt R. Schmidt and published open access in Environmental Science Europe.