Variation in pesticide tolerance of tadpoles among and within species of ranidae and patterns of amphibian decline

There is significant variation among and within amphibian species with respect to reports of population decline; declining species are often found in environments that are physiographically similar to environments where the same species is thriving. Because variability exists among organisms in thei...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Conservation biology 2000-10, Vol.14 (5), p.1490-1499
Main Authors: Bridges, Christine M., Semlitsch, Raymond D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amphibia
Amphibians
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Biological and medical sciences
biological resistance
carbaryl
Conservation biology
Contaminants
Depopulation
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates
Environmental conservation
Freshwater
Frogs
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Pesticide resistance
population decrease
Rana
Rana sphenocephala
Ranidae
Reptilia. Amphibia
Species
species differences
Species populations
Tadpoles
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Summary:There is significant variation among and within amphibian species with respect to reports of population decline; declining species are often found in environments that are physiographically similar to environments where the same species is thriving. Because variability exists among organisms in their sensitivity to environmental stressors, it is important to determine the degree of this variation when undertaking conservation efforts. We conducted both lethal (time-to-death) and sublethal (activity change) assays to determine the degree of variation in the sensitivity of tadpoles to a pesticide, carbaryl, at three hierarchical levels: among ranid species, among several populations of a single ranid species (Rana sphenocephala), and within populations of R. sphenocephala. We observed significant variation in time to death among the nine ranid species and among the 10 R. sphenocephala populations we tested. Four out of eight R. sphenocephala populations exhibited significantly different times to death among families. The magnitude of the activity change in response to exposure to sublethal carbaryl levels was significantly different among species and within R. sphenocephala populations. Chemical contamination, at lethal or sublethal levels, can alter natural regulatory processes such as juvenile recruitment in amphibian populations and should be considered a contributing cause of declines in amphibian populations.
ISSN:0888-8892
1523-1739
DOI:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.99343.x