Amphibians are among the most threatened vertebrate groups, and pesticide exposure from agricultural runoff contributes significantly to population declines and individual welfare harm.
Amphibian pesticide exposure causes welfare harms at multiple biological levels: acute poisoning that causes death or severe neurological dysfunction, sublethal immune impairment that increases susceptibility to chytrid fungus, and endocrine disruption that affects reproduction and development. The combination of habitat loss and pesticide exposure creates a synergistic threat that is driving many species toward extinction. Individual frogs, toads, and salamanders experiencing these effects suffer welfare harms that accumulate at population-threatening scale.