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Impacts of the herbicide butachlor on the larvae of a paddy field breeding frog (Fejervarya limnocharis) in subtropical Taiwan

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Abstract

Butachlor is the most commonly used herbicide on paddy fields in Taiwan and throughout Southeast Asia. Since paddy fields provide habitat for pond breeding amphibians, we examined growth, development, time to metamorphosis, and survival of alpine cricket frog tadpoles (Fejervarya limnocharis) exposed to environmentally realistic concentrations of butachlor. We documented negative impacts of butachlor on survival, development, and time to metamorphosis, but not on tadpole growth. The 96 h LC50 for tadpoles was 0.87 mg/l, much lower than the 4.8 mg/l recommended dosage for application to paddy fields. Even given the rapid breakdown of butachlor, tadpoles would be exposed to concentrations in excess of their 96 h LC50 for an estimated 126 h. We also documented DNA damage (genotoxicity) in tadpoles exposed to butachlor at concentrations an order of magnitude less than the 4.8 mg/l recommended application rate. We did not find that butachlor depressed cholinesterase activity of tadpoles, unlike most organophosphorus insecticides. We conclude that butachlor is likely to have widespread negative impacts on amphibians occupying paddy fields with traditional herbicide application.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a National Science Council Grant (NSC 95-2311-B-029-006-MY3) to YCK. Joan Fellers, Patrick Kleeman, and Norm Scott provided helpful comments on the manuscript. Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government. This is contribution 417 of the US Geologic Survey, Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, 407, Taiwan

    Wan-Yi Liu & Yeong-Choy Kam

  2. Department of Agronomy, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, 402, Taiwan

    Ching-Yuh Wang

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, 402, Taiwan

    Tsu-Shing Wang

  4. U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes, CA, 94956, USA

    Gary M. Fellers

  5. Department of Bioresources, Dayeh University, Dacun, Changhua, 51591, Taiwan

    Bo-Chi Lai

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  1. Wan-Yi Liu
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  3. Tsu-Shing Wang
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Correspondence to Yeong-Choy Kam.

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Liu, WY., Wang, CY., Wang, TS. et al. Impacts of the herbicide butachlor on the larvae of a paddy field breeding frog (Fejervarya limnocharis) in subtropical Taiwan. Ecotoxicology 20, 377–384 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-010-0589-6

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