Protocol for assessing wildlife exposure and risk from pesticides in tropical food chains with limited biomonitoring data

Abstract

Summary Pesticides threaten wildlife through terrestrial food chains, but data on wildlife exposure are scarce. Here, we present a protocol to assess pesticide health risks in wildlife using an integrated physiologically-based kinetic approach. We describe steps for data compilation, regional contamination scoring, and three-tiered exposure estimation using tissue, plant, and soil. We then detail procedures for ecological risk calculation, spatial mapping, and uncertainty analysis. This protocol enables traceable, quantitative, spatially resolved risk assessments for herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Chen and Li.1