Abstract
Increased agricultural production has been increased use of pesticides worldwide, which poses a threat to both human and environmental health. Recent studies suggest that several non-target organisms, from bees to mammals, show a wide variety of toxic effects of pesticides exposure, including impaired behavior, development and reproduction. Among mammals, bats are usually a neglected taxon among ecotoxicological studies, although they play important ecological and economical roles in forest ecosystems and agriculture through to seed dispersal and insect population control. Considering their wide variety of food habits, bats are exposed to environmental pollutants through food or water contamination, or through direct skin contact in their roosting areas. In order to better understand the risk posed by pesticides to bats populations, we compiled studies that investigated the main toxicological effects of pesticides in bats, aiming at contributing to discussion about the environmental risks associated with the use of pesticides.
Highlights
Environmental contamination is one of the main global concerns of the recent years, as an increasing number of studies are associating the exposure to various environmental pollutants with deleterious and often synergistic effects on living organisms (Cedergreen, 2014)
There has been an increase in agricultural production accompanied by stagnation or a decline in crop yields
In order to assess the state of knowledge about the effects of bat exposure to pesticides, we performed a bibliographic search on the main search platforms, using several keywords
Summary
Environmental contamination is one of the main global concerns of the recent years, as an increasing number of studies are associating the exposure to various environmental pollutants with deleterious and often synergistic effects on living organisms (Cedergreen, 2014). Pesticides are chemical substances that act against any agent that can damage the production, storage, processing of agricultural products, pastures, and vectors. They contribute to agricultural production as they are used to protect crops and livestock from various pests, diseases, weeds, and parasites. As several pesticides persist and accumulate in the environment, non-target organisms are continuously exposed through its residues or byproducts, including organisms that play key ecological roles in ecosystems (Aktar et al, 2009). Bats comprise a wide variety of species inhabiting nearly the entire planet, exhibiting important ecological and economic roles as seed dispersers in natural ecosystems and insect populations control of agricultural pests (Boyles et al, 2011). In this review, were compiled studies on the effects of pesticides in bats, aiming at contributing to the discussion about the environmental risks associated with the use of pesticides
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