Life Sciences Commons^™

Detection Of Neonicotinoids In Northern Leopard Frog (Rana Pipiens) Brains, Peyton G. Keller

Honors Thesis

Neonicotinoids are widespread and commonly used to fight agricultural pests. Unfortunately, these neurotoxic insecticides commonly reach nearby wetlands due to tile drainage systems and agricultural runoff. Non-target organisms, such as amphibians, use wetlands as habitat and are likely exposed to elevated neonicotinoid levels. We collected Northern leopard frogs and water samples from control and tile wetlands to compare imidacloprid brain concentrations and subsequent changes in brain morphology. Additionally, a lab-based experiment was conducted to further analyze the ability of imidacloprid and its metabolite, imidacloprid-olefin, to cross the blood-brain barrier. Tile wetlands had higher aquatic imidacloprid concentrations. Subsequently, amphibians collected from …