Effects of persistent energy-related brine contamination on amphibian abundance in national wildlife refuge wetlands

Hossack, Blake R.; Smalling, Kelly L.; Anderson, Chauncey W.; Preston, Todd M.; Cozzarelli, Isabelle M.; Honeycutt, R. Ken

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2018.10.007

Cited by 26 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Three species of amphibians commonly occur in our study system: barred tiger salamanders ( Ambystoma mavortium ; hereafter, tiger salamanders), northern leopard frogs ( Rana pipiens ; leopard frogs) and boreal chorus frogs ( Pseudacris maculata ; chorus frogs; Hossack et al , 2018 ). The abundance and occurrence of amphibians in wastewater-contaminated wetlands varies with degree of contamination ( Hossack et al , 2018 ). Similarly, sensitivity to wastewaters varies among species with chorus frogs generally being the most sensitive followed by leopard frogs and then tiger salamanders (based on lethal concentration 50 tests; Tornabene et al , 2020 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many amphibians are susceptible to salinity because of their porous skin and limited osmoregulatory capacity ( Shoemaker and Nagy, 1977 ; Hintz and Relyea, 2019 ); however, some species are tolerant or can become adaptively tolerant to saline environments (reviewed in Hopkins and Brodie, 2015 ). Increased salinity from two different sources (wastewaters and road salts) has similar lethal and sublethal effects on larval amphibians in laboratory and field studies ( Albecker and McCoy, 2017 ; Hossack et al , 2018 ; Hintz and Relyea, 2019 ; Tornabene et al , 2020 ). CORT (the predominant GC in amphibians; Macchi and Phillips, 1966 ) can increase with exposure to salinity ( Chambers, 2011 ; Chambers et al , 2013 ; Hopkins et al , 2016 ; Hall et al , 2017 , 2020 ) and is thought to be involved in iono- and osmo-regulation of aquatic vertebrates ( Warburg, 1995 ; McCormick, 2001 ; McCormick and Bradshaw, 2006 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To this end, we sought to determine the effects of increased salinity from wastewaters on baseline and stress-induced waterborne CORT of three widespread larval amphibian species that vary in their sensitivity to salinity ( Hossack et al , 2018 , Tornabene et al , 2020 ). All three species occur across a wide gradient of salinity from wastewaters (~0–6000 mg/l Cl dependent on species; Hossack et al , 2018 ). We also sought to document the occurrence and variability of ambient CORT in wetlands and assessed effects on waterborne CORT of larvae.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating corticosterone as a biomarker for amphibians exposed to increased salinity and ambient corticosterone

Tornabene

Hossack

Crespi

et al. 2021

Conservation Physiology

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Physiological biomarkers are commonly used to assess the health of taxa exposed to natural and anthropogenic stressors. Glucocorticoid (GC) hormones are often used as indicators of physiological stress in wildlife because they affect growth, reproduction and survival. Increased salinity from human activities negatively influences amphibians and their corticosterone (CORT; the main amphibian GC) physiology; therefore, CORT could be a useful biomarker. We evaluated whether waterborne CORT could serve as a biomarker of salt stress for three free-living amphibian species that vary in their sensitivity to salinity: boreal chorus frogs (Pseudacris maculata), northern leopard frogs (Rana pipiens) and barred tiger salamanders (Ambystoma mavortium). Across a gradient of contamination from energy-related saline wastewaters, we tested the effects of salinity on baseline and stress-induced waterborne CORT of larvae. Stress-induced, but not baseline, CORT of leopard frogs increased with increasing salinity. Salinity was not associated with baseline or stress-induced CORT of chorus frogs or tiger salamanders. Associations between CORT and salinity were also not related to species-specific sensitivities to salinity. However, we detected background environmental CORT (ambient CORT) in all wetlands and spatial variation was high within and among wetlands. Higher ambient CORT was associated with lower waterborne CORT of larvae in wetlands. Therefore, ambient CORT likely confounded associations between waterborne CORT and salinity in our analysis and possibly influenced physiology of larvae. We hypothesize that larvae may passively take up CORT from their environment and downregulate endogenous CORT. Although effects of some hormones (e.g. oestrogen) and endocrine disruptors on aquatic organisms are well described, studies investigating the occurrence and effects of ambient CORT are limited. We provide suggestions to improve collection methods, reduce variability and avoid confounding effects of ambient CORT. By making changes to methodology, waterborne CORT could still be a promising, non-invasive conservation tool to evaluate effects of salinity on amphibians.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Evaluating corticosterone as a biomarker for amphibians exposed to increased salinity and ambient corticosterone

Tornabene

Hossack

Crespi

et al. 2021

Conservation Physiology

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“…We hypothesize that there will be differences in salamander vital rates across the Refuge: not all wetlands were inundated by storm surge and specific conductance varied among those that were ( Figure 1; Table S1). Moreover, although the ability of A. cingulatum to tolerate salinity is not known, many species of amphibians are known to occur in saline habitats (Hopkins & Brodie, 2015;Hossack et al, 2018).…”

Section: S T Mark S Nati Onal Wildlife Refug E Fros Ted Fl At Womentioning

confidence: 99%

Seeking shelter from the storm: Conservation and management of imperiled species in a changing climate

Walls

Barichivich

Chandler

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Climate change is anticipated to exacerbate the extinction risk of species whose persistence is already compromised by habitat loss, invasive species, disease, or other stressors. In coastal areas of the southeastern United States (USA), many imperiled vertebrates are vulnerable to hurricanes, which climate models predict to become more severe in the 21st century. Despite this escalating threat, explicit adaptation strategies that address hurricane threats, in particular, and climate change more generally, are largely underrepresented in recovery planning and implementation. We provide a basis for stronger emphasis on strategic planning for imperiled species facing the increasing threat of catastrophic hurricanes. Our reasoning comes from observations of short‐term environmental and biological impacts of Hurricane Michael, which impacted the Gulf Coast of the southeastern USA in October 2018. During this storm, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, located along the northern Gulf of Mexico's coast in the panhandle region of Florida, received storm surge that was 3.0–3.6 m (NAVD88) above sea level. Storm surge pushed sea water into some ephemeral freshwater ponds used for breeding by the federally threatened frosted flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma cingulatum). After the storm, specific conductance across all ponds measured varied from 80 to 23,100 µS/cm, compared to 75 to 445 µS/cm in spring 2018. For 17 overwashed wetlands that were measured in both spring and fall 2018, posthurricane conductance observations were, on average, more than 90 times higher than in the previous spring, setting the stage for varying population responses across this coastal landscape. Importantly, we found live individual flatwoods salamanders at both overwashed and non‐overwashed sites, although we cannot yet assess the demographic consequences of this storm. We outline actions that could be incorporated into climate adaptation strategies and recovery planning for imperiled species, like A. cingulatum, that are associated with freshwater coastal wetlands in hurricane‐prone regions.

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Detecting Amphibians in Agricultural Landscapes Using Environmental DNA Reveals the Importance of Wetland Condition

Ruso

Morrissey

Hogan

et al. 2019

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Amphibians are declining worldwide, in part because of large‐scale degradation of habitat from agriculture and pervasive pathogens. Yet a common North American amphibian, the wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus), ranges widely and persists in agricultural landscapes. Conventional survey techniques rely on visual encounters and dip‐netting efforts, but detectability limits the ability to test for the effects of environmental variables on amphibian habitat suitability. We used environmental DNA to determine the presence of wood frogs and an amphibian pathogen (ranavirus) in Prairie Pothole wetlands and investigated the effects of 32 water quality, wetland habitat, and landscape‐level variables on frog presence at sites representing different degrees of agricultural intensity. Several wetland variables influenced wood frog presence, the most influential being those associated with wetland productivity (i.e., nutrients), vegetation buffer width, and proportion of the surrounding landscape that is comprised of other water bodies. Wood frog presence was positively associated with higher dissolved phosphorus (>0.4 mg/L), moderate dissolved nitrogen (0.1–0.2 mg/L), lower chlorophyll a (≤15 µg/L), wider vegetation buffers (≥10 m), and more water on the landscape (≥0.25). These results highlight the effects of environmental factors at multiple scales on the presence of amphibians in this highly modified landscape—namely the importance of maintaining wetland water quality, vegetation buffers, and surrounding habitat heterogeneity. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:2750–2763. © 2019 SETAC

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Effects of persistent energy-related brine contamination on amphibian abundance in national wildlife refuge wetlands

Cited by 26 publications

References 41 publications

Evaluating corticosterone as a biomarker for amphibians exposed to increased salinity and ambient corticosterone

Evaluating corticosterone as a biomarker for amphibians exposed to increased salinity and ambient corticosterone

Seeking shelter from the storm: Conservation and management of imperiled species in a changing climate

Detecting Amphibians in Agricultural Landscapes Using Environmental DNA Reveals the Importance of Wetland Condition

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