Amphibian Distribution with Respect to Pond Water Chemistry near Sudbury, Ontario

Abstract

Amphibians were present in 118 potential breeding sites 9–66 km northeast and southwest of Sudbury, Ontario. Detailed chemical analyses were done for 38 ponds, and 23 variables were subjected to principal components analysis to summarize the main gradients in pond chemistry. Discriminant analysis using scores of the first three principal components showed that the presence of Rana pipiens, R. clamitans and Hyla crucifer was positively related to buffering status (alkalinity, pH, and other correlated variables); the presence of H. crucifer was also negatively related to atmospheric deposition status (cadmium, nickel, other correlated metals, and sulphate). Discriminant analysis using the original water chemistry variables confirms these general patterns. Two species show relationships with buffering status variables: Rana sylvatica with conductivity and R. clamitans with alkalinity. Three species also show negative correlation with metal levels in pond water: Bufo americanus with nickel, R. clamitans with aluminum, and R. pipiens with zinc. Although most of the species expected do occur in the Sudbury area, the distributions of several species appear related to buffering status and metals present in their immediate environemnt. There were only two observations of Ambystoma maculatum, and low numbers of egg masses were noted for R. sylvatica.

The Acid Test: pH Tolerance of the Eggs and Larvae of the Invasive Cane Toad (Rhinella marina) in Southeastern Australia

“…Although amphibian larvae are more tolerant of acidity than are embryos (Freda 1986), tadpoles in low-pH conditions display elevated sodium efflux (Freda and Dunson 1985b), depressed growth rate (Freda and Dunson 1985b), delayed metamorphosis, smaller size at metamorphosis, and poor reproductive success (Wilbur and Collins 1973;Smith-Gill and Berven 1979). However, tolerance to acidity varies interspecifically (Pierce 1993), and some bufonids can develop successfully under acidic conditions (e.g., pH 4-4.5: Bufo calamita eggs [Beebee 1986]; pH 4.1-6.3: Bufo americanus eggs [Clark and Lazerte 1985;Dale et al 1985;Glooschenko et al 1992]; pH 4.8: Bufo bufo larvae [Dolmen and Skei 2006]). …”

Heavy metal pollution negatively correlates with anuran species richness and distribution in south‐eastern Australia

“…Critically, these findings add to a small but growing body of evidence that metal pollution can significantly alter global amphibian community structure. Throughout the northern hemisphere, the ecological impacts of metals have been considered for several decades and there is now some emerging evidence that anuran species richness has been negatively impacted by agricultural sources of copper in southern Spain (García-Muñoz et al 2010a;García-Muñoz et al 2010b) and industrial sources of copper, cadmium, nickel, aluminium, and zinc in Sudbury Canada (Glooschenko et al 1992) and cadmium, chromium and lead in Wisconsin USA (Karasov et al 2005). By providing evidence that metal pollution correlates negatively with anuran species richness in the southern hemisphere, our study adds further weight to the long held notion that heavy metal pollution resulting from anthropogenic activities is an important factor contributing to amphibian decline.…”

“…Previous studies have shown that anuran species richness can be significantly influenced by pond size and the amount of vegetation surrounding ponds (García-Muñoz et al 2010a;García-Muñoz et al 2010b;Glooschenko et al 1992;Hazell 2003). Therefore, at each study site we measured pond area (m 2 ) and estimated the amount of vegetation surrounding ponds (% cover in a 1km radius).…”

“…In an investigation of the effects of chemical contaminants on amphibian distribution near a smelting operation in Sudbury Canada, Glooschenko et al (1992) reported that the presence of frog species was negatively related to increasing levels of cadmium, nickel, aluminium, zinc and copper.…”

Are U, Ni, and Hg an Environmental Risk within a RCRA/CERCLA Unit on the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site?

“…Another recent Tims Branch study has revealed DNA double strand breakage in water snakes as a result of low level exposure to Ni in the presence of the other COPCs (Murray et al 2010) showing that TFs are not the most important factor in quantifying risk from Ni exposure in this system. Although the direct effects of Ni have not been widely studied for Anuran larvae, one study has suggested population sinks as a result of Ni contamination in Hyla crucifer and Bufo americanus (Glooschenko et al 1992). …”