Data from: Pesticide tolerance in amphibians: induced tolerance in susceptible populations, constitutive tolerance in tolerant populations

The role of plasticity in shaping adaptations is important to
understanding the expression of traits within individuals and the
evolution of populations. With increasing human impacts on the
environment, one challenge is to consider how plasticity shapes responses
to anthropogenic stressors such as contaminants. To our knowledge, only
one study (using mosquitoes) has considered the possibility of induced
insecticide tolerance. Using populations of wood frogs (Lithobates
sylvaticus) located close to and far from agricultural fields, we
discovered that exposing some populations of embryos and hatchlings to
sublethal concentrations of the insecticide carbaryl induced higher
tolerance to a subsequent lethal concentration later in life.
Interestingly, the inducible populations were located >800 m from
agricultural areas and were the most susceptible to the insecticide. In
contrast, the noninducible populations were located close to agricultural
areas and were the least susceptible. We also found that sublethal
concentrations of carbaryl induced higher tadpole AChE concentrations in
several cases. This is the first study to demonstrate inducible tolerance
in a vertebrate species and the pattern of inducible and constitutive
tolerance among populations suggests the process of genetic assimilation.