Ace the Dual Enrollment Biology Test 2026 – Dive into Success and Bio-tastic Adventures!

Pesticide resistance grows because of natural selection. When a pesticide is used, susceptible individuals die and those with resistant traits survive and reproduce. Over time, those resistance traits become more common across species, so the number of resistant species increases.

If we look at the period from 1981 to 1984, the change is substantial. For example, starting with about 70 resistant species in 1981 and ending with roughly 280 in 1984 would give an increase of around 210 species. That magnitude reflects the strong selective pressure of widespread pesticide use across many species, leading to a notable rise in resistance over that three-year span.

Other possible numbers would imply different growth patterns that don’t match the observed rapid accumulation of resistance in that timeframe.