Salted roads lead to edema and reduced locomotor function in wood frogs

Abstract

Human activities have caused massive losses of natural populations across the globe. Like many groups, amphibians have experienced substantial declines worldwide, driven by environmental changes such as habitat conversion, pollution, and disease emergence. Each of these drivers is often found in close association with the presence of roads. Here we report a novel consequence of roads affecting an amphibian native to much of North America, the wood frog (Rana sylvatica). Across 38 populations distributed from southern to central New England, we found that adult wood frogs living adjacent to roads had higher incidence and severity of edema (bloating caused by fluid accumulation) during the breeding season than frogs living away from the influence of roads. This effect was best explained by increased conductivity of breeding ponds, caused by runoff pollution from road salt used for de-icing. Edema severity was negatively correlated with locomotor performance in more northerly populations. Interestingly, northern populations experience more intense winters, which tends to result in more de-icing salt runoff and increased energetic demands associated with overwintering cryoprotection needs. Thus, this emerging consequence of roads appears to impose potential fitness costs associated with locomotion, and these effects might be most impactful on populations living in regions where de-icing is most intense.