Predator-induced stress makes the pesticide carbaryl more deadly to gray treefrog tadpoles (Hyla versicolor)

Global declines in amphibians likely have multiple causes, including widespread pesticide use. Our knowledge of pesticide effects on amphibians is largely limited to short-term (4-d) toxicity tests conducted under highly artificial conditions to determine lethal concentrations (LC50). We found that if we used slightly longer exposure times (10–16 d), low concentrations of the pesticide carbaryl (3–4% of LC504-d) killed 10–60% of gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor) tadpoles. If predatory cues also were present, the pesticide became 2–4 times more lethal, killing 60–98% of tadpoles. Thus, under more realistic conditions of increased exposure times and predatory stress, current application rates for carbaryl can potentially devastate gray treefrog populations. Further, because predator-induced stress is ubiquitous in animals and carbaryl's mode of action is common to many pesticides, these negative impacts may be widespread in nature.

Del ciborg a la realidad aumentada. coloquio Gray - Mentor - Figueroa - Sarriera

La publicación en 1985 del Manifiesto ciborg, de Donna Haraway, tuvo un efecto explosivo en los estudios de ciencia, tecnología y sociedad. Sirvió como catalizador de una ruptura definitiva y largamente augurada con los estudios de historia y filosofía y de la ciencia tradicionales y supuso una apertura a territorios conceptuales novedosos, en los que se entreveraban la informática, la filosofía, la teoría literaria, la semiótica o la ciencia ficción. Chris H. Gray, Heidi Sarriera-Figueroa y Steven Mentor, autores de The Cyborg Handbook, repasan en este coloquio moderado por Ángel Gordo e Igor Sádaba la evolución de este campo de estudios.