Species-specific responses of developing anurans to coal combustion wastes
Joel
W. Snodgrassa,c,*, William A. Hopkinsb, Jeffroy
Broughton a, Daniel Gwinna, Jennifer A. Baionnob,
Joanna Burgerc
aDepartment
of Biological Sciences, Towson University, Towson, MD 21252, USA
bSavannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia,
Savannah. GA, USA
cConsortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation
(CRESP), Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers
University, Rutgers, NJ, USA
Received 17 January 2003; received in revised form 30 August 2003; accepted
5 September 2003
Abstract
Field surveys
and field experiments have previously documented adverse effects of solid
byproducts from coal incineration (coal combustion wastes (CCW)) on larval
amphibians inhabiting aquatic habitats. However, a definitive link between
CCW-exposure and developmental abnormalities has not been established
because no studies have addressed the direct effects of prolonged exposure
to CCW on larval amphibian development under controlled laboratory conditions.
In the laboratory we exposed green frog (Rana clamitans) and
wood frog (Rana sylvatica) larvae to either clean sand or CCW-contaminated
sediment to investigate the direct effects of CCW exposure on trace element
accumulation, growth, developmental rate, malformations, survival, and
metamorphic success. While both species accumulated significant (P <
0.05) concentrations of at least six trace elements (As, Cd, Fe, Se, Sr,
and V), effects of exposure to CCW varied between species, with R.
clamitans larvae experiencing more severe effects including a 26%
reduction in survival and a 45% reduction in metamorphic success. Furthermore,
exposure to CCW decreased growth and developmental rates among larvae
of both species that successfully completed metamorphosis. Larval period
duration was increased by 10 and 11 %, and size at metamorphosis was decreased
by 10 and 39% in R. clamitans and R. sylvatica exposed to CCW,
respectively. Rates of malformations were 4%, and were not dependent on
species or sediment treatment. Our results confirm the direct effects
of CCW on aquatic amphibian larvae suggested by previous field studies,
and indicate that considerable variation may exist in sensitivity among
species exposed to CCW. These findings have important implications for
the management of CCW since >50 million t are discharged annually to
surface impoundments in the US, which are often used by breeding amphibians.
SREL Reprint #2731
Snodgrass, J. W., W. A. Hopkins, J. Broughton, D. Gwinn, J. A. Baionno and J. Burger. 2004. Species-specific responses of developing anurans to coal combustion wastes. Aquatic Toxicology 66:171-182.
