Pesticides applied in agriculture can affect the structure and function of nontarget populations at lower doses and for longer timespans than predicted by the current risk assessment frameworks. We identified a mechanism for this observation. The populations of an aquatic invertebrate ( Culex pipiens) exposed over several generations to repeated pulses of low concentrations of the neonicotinoid insecticide (thiacloprid) continuously declined and did not recover in the presence of a less sensitive competing species ( Daphnia magna). By contrast, in the absence of a competitor, insecticide effects on the more sensitive species were only observed at concentrations 1 order of magnitude higher, and the species recovered more rapidly after a contamination event. The underlying processes are experimentally identified and reconstructed using a simulation model. We conclude that repeated toxicant pulse of populations that are challenged with interspecific competition may result in a multigenerational culmination of low-dose effects.