The effects of 24-h exposure to carbaryl or atrazine on the locomotor performance and overwinter growth and survival of juvenile spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum).

Understanding the effects of pesticide exposure on organisms throughout their life cycle is critical to predict population-level effects. For many taxa, including amphibians, juveniles are the main dispersal stage and are disproportionally important to population persistence when compared with other life stages. In the present study, we examined the effects of a single 24-h exposure to the insecticide carbaryl or the herbicide atrazine on locomotor performance (endurance, distance traveled, speed, and fatigue) in the laboratory and terrestrial growth and survival through overwintering in field enclosures using recent metamorphs of spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum).