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Effect of Individual and Combined Treatments of Pesticide, Fertilizer, and Salt on Growth and Corticosterone Levels of Larval Southern Leopard Frogs (Lithobates sphenocephala)

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Abstract

Human activities have introduced a variety of chemicals, including pesticides, fertilizers, and salt, into the environment, which may have deleterious effects on the organisms inhabiting these areas. Amphibians are especially susceptible to absorption of chemical pollutants. To determine the possible combined effects of these chemicals on amphibian development and stress levels, Southern leopard frog (Lithobates sphenocephala) larvae were exposed to one of eight individual or combined treatments of atrazine, ammonium nitrate fertilizer, and sodium chloride salt. Stress levels, indicated by release of the stress hormone corticosterone, were measured premetamorphosis at week 8 of development. Water hormone samples were processed to analyze corticosterone levels. Changes in tadpole growth were determined by surface area measurements taken from biweekly photographs. The combined chemical treatment of atrazine, salt, and fertilizer had a significant interactive effect by increasing stress levels before metamorphosis (p = 0.003). After a month of larval development, tadpoles exposed to ammonium nitrate had larger surface area (p = 0.035). Tadpoles exposed to atrazine had a lower growth rate throughout larval development (p = 0.025) and the lowest number of individuals reaching metamorphosis at 33%. However, the frogs in the atrazine treatment that did successfully metamorphose did so in fewer days (p = 0.002). Because amphibians are exposed to multiple chemicals simultaneously in the environment, assessing the effects of a combination of contaminants is necessary to improve application strategies and ecosystem health.

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Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Dr. Leslie Sherman for her editorial assistance with this manuscript. Help with statistical analyses was provided by Dr. George Spilich from the Psychology Department. The ELx808 Ultra Microplate Reader at 405 nm (Biotek Instruments Inc., Winooski, VT, USA) was provided by Psychology Department at Washington College.

Funding

This research was funded by the Biology & Environmental Science and Studies Departments at Washington College, John S. Toll Fellows Program, and Douglas Cater Society of Junior Fellows.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biology and Environmental Science & Studies, Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD, 21620, USA

    Rose Adelizzi, Julia Portmann & Robin Van Meter

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  1. Rose Adelizzi
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  2. Julia Portmann
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  3. Robin Van Meter
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Contributions

All authors contributed to experimental design, data collection, data analysis, and writing the paper equally.

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Correspondence to Robin Van Meter.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

Southern leopard frog eggs were collected under the Maryland State Scientific Collecting Permit #55848 and euthanized according to IACUC protocol #SP17-003.

Data Availability

Research data pertaining to the present study are located at https://github.com/rvanmeter2/AECT-mixed-agrochemicals.git.

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Adelizzi, R., Portmann, J. & Van Meter, R. Effect of Individual and Combined Treatments of Pesticide, Fertilizer, and Salt on Growth and Corticosterone Levels of Larval Southern Leopard Frogs (Lithobates sphenocephala). Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 77, 29–39 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-019-00629-6

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