Data from: Phylogeny meets ecotoxicology: evolutionary patterns of sensitivity to a common insecticide

Pesticides commonly occur in aquatic systems and pose a substantial
challenge to the conservation of many taxa. Ecotoxicology has
traditionally met this challenge by focusing on short-term, single-species
tests and conducting risk assessments based on the most sensitive species
tested. Rarely have ecotoxicology data been examined from an evolutionary
perspective and to our knowledge there has never been a phylogenetic
analysis of sensitivity, despite the fact that doing so would provide
insights into patterns of sensitivity among species and identify which
clades are the most sensitive to a particular pesticide. We examined
phylogenetic patterns of pesticide sensitivity in amphibians, a group of
conservation concern due to global population declines. Using the
insecticide endosulfan, we combined previously published results across
seven species of tadpoles and added eight additional species from the
families Bufonidae, Hylidae, and Ranidae. We found significant
phylogenetic signal in the sensitivity to the insecticide and in the
existence of time lag effects on tadpole mortality. Bufonids were less
sensitive than hylids which were less sensitive than the ranids. Moreover,
mortality time lags were common in ranids, occasional in hylids, and rare
in bufonids. These results highlight the importance of an evolutionary
perspective and offer important insights for conservation.