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Multiple environmental stressors elicit complex interactive effects in the western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)

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Abstract

Evaluation of multiple-stressor effects stemming from habitat degradation, climate change, and exposure to chemical contaminants is crucial for addressing challenges to ecological and environmental health. To assess the effects of multiple stressors in an understudied taxon, the western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) was used to characterize the individual and combined effects of food limitation, exposure to the munitions constituent 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), and Plasmodium mexicanum (lizard malaria) infection. Three experimental assays were conducted including: Experiment I—TNT × Food Limitation, Experiment II—Food Limitation × Malaria Infection, and Experiment III—TNT × Malaria Infection. All experiments had a 30 day duration, the malaria treatment included infected and non infected control lizards, food limitation treatments included an ad libitum control and at least one reduced food ration and TNT exposures consisting of daily oral doses of corn oil control or a corn oil-TNT suspension at 5, 10, 20, 40 mg/kg/day. The individual stressors caused a variety of effects including: reduced feeding, reduced testes mass, anemia, increased white blood cell (WBC) concentrations and increased mass of liver, kidney and spleen in TNT exposures; reduced cholesterol, WBC concentrations and whole body, testes and inguinal fat weights given food limitation; and increased WBC concentrations and spleen weights as well as decreased cholesterol and testes mass in malaria infected lizards. Additive and interactive effects were found among certain stressor combinations including elimination of TNT-induced hormesis for growth under food limitation. Ultimately, our study indicates the potential for effects modulation when environmental stressors are combined.

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Acknowledgement

We thank Pat Beall, Karen Deaver, Shane Hall, and Joseph J. Schall for their advice and technical assistance during the course of this study. The research was funded through the US Army, 6.1 Environmental Quality on Installations basic research program. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Effects Research Program, Toxicology Portfolio, U.S. Army Institute of Public Health, Edgewood Area, Bldg. E-2100, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, 21010-5403, USA

    Craig A. McFarland, Michael J. Quinn Jr., Matthew A. Bazar & Mark S. Johnson

  2. Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA

    Larry G. Talent

  3. Environmental Laboratory, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS, 39180, USA

    Mitchell S. Wilbanks, Edward J. Perkins & Kurt A. Gust

  4. Department of Anatomy and Radiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Mandana Nisanian & Robert M. Gogal Jr.

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  1. Craig A. McFarland
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  2. Larry G. Talent
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  3. Michael J. Quinn Jr.
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  4. Matthew A. Bazar
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  6. Mandana Nisanian
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  10. Kurt A. Gust
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Correspondence to Craig A. McFarland.

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McFarland, C.A., Talent, L.G., Quinn, M.J. et al. Multiple environmental stressors elicit complex interactive effects in the western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis). Ecotoxicology 21, 2372–2390 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-012-0993-1

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