Which condition can lead to increased pesticide resistance in pests?

The application of lower doses than recommended can lead to increased pesticide resistance in pests because when pests are exposed to sub-lethal doses of a pesticide, they may survive and reproduce. This allows for the possibility of resistant individuals to emerge and dominate the population over time. Over several generations, this selective pressure can lead to a pest population that is increasingly resistant to that particular pesticide, ultimately compromising the effectiveness of the chemical.

In contrast, regularly rotating different pesticide types helps to manage resistance by exposing pests to different modes of action, thereby reducing the likelihood of resistance development. Timing applications according to pest life cycles maximizes the effectiveness of the pesticide and minimizes the chance for pests to escape exposure. Lastly, alteration of environmental conditions typically affects pest viability and can influence the behavior of both the pests and the pesticides, but does not inherently lead to resistance in the way that applying lower doses does.