| Abstract: | CONCLUSIONS--Although there are no published studies that demonstrate beyond all doubt that contaminants are involved in long term population declines of amphibians, there is ample evidence and reason to encourage active research and concern about effects. Many contaminants are lethal to amphibians at environmentally realistic concentrations. Acute mortality from these compounds may be difficult to detect because investigators would have to be present shortly after exposures. Chronic mortality may be masked by metapopulation phenomena so that areas that serve as population sinks may be repeatedly recolonized and difficult to identify. Metapopulation dynamics also make it more difficult to define discrete populations. Contaminants also have many sublethal effects on behavior, energetics, malformations, and diverse effects on physiological pathways which, by themselves might not lead to overt death but could alter reproduction or interact with other factors to result in gradual declines in populations. Scientific understanding of these interactions, and of the ecotoxicology of amphibians in general is far behind what is known about birds, fish, and mammals, and research is desperately needed in this area. Some specific suggestions for critically needed research include: (1) Determination of lethal concentrations of common contaminants - pesticides, PAHs, metals--under environmentally realistic conditions of light, temperature, and water chemistry. (2) Better understanding of the effects of long term (weeks, months), low- concentration exposure of persistent pesticides and stable contaminants on amphibians. (3) Development and refinement of bioindicators in amphibians to use in monitoring and screening for potential effects of contaminants in declining amphibian populations. (4) Further studies on the interaction between contaminants and disease agents including immunosuppression in amphibians. (5) Additional research on the interaction between ultraviolet radiation - both UV-A and UV-B--and a broader range of contaminants. (6) Development of models to assess risk in amphibians as related to landscape factors and especially in the aquatic-terrestrial interface. (7) Population survival requires that organisms survive through their entire life cycle; to date, there have been no studies that have examined the responses of amphibians to contaminants in all phases (egg, embryo, larvae and adult) of their life cycles. |
| Genre: | Book chapter |
| ProdID: | 5211205 |
| Citation Author: | Sparling, D. W. |
| Citation Contributing Office: | Patuxent Wildlife Research Center |
| Citation Datum: | |
| Citation Day: | |
| Citation Edition: | 2nd |
| Citation Editor: | Hoffman, David J.; Rattner, Barnett A.; Burton, G. Allen=, Jr.; Cairns, John=, Jr. (editors) |
| Citation End Page: | 1128 |
| Citation Issue: | |
| Citation Keywords: | |
| Citation Language: | English |
| Citation Larger Work Title: | Handbook of Ecotoxicology |
| Citation LatN: | |
| Citation LatS: | |
| Citation LonE: | |
| Citation LonW: | |
| Citation Month: | |
| Citation No Pagination: | |
| Citation Number Of Pages: | |
| Citation Online Only Flag: | |
| Citation Phsyical Description: | 1,290 |
| Citation Projection: | |
| Citation Public Comments: | OCLC: 49952447 ; ISBN: 1-56670-546-0. Chapter 40 in book. PDF on file: 5972_Sparling.pdf |
| Citation Publisher: | Lewis Publishers |
| Citation Series: | |
| Citation Series Code: | |
| Citation Series Number: | |
| Citation Search Results Text: | A review of the role of contaminants in amphibian declines; 2003; Book chapter; Handbook of Ecotoxicology; Sparling, D. W. |
| Citation Start Page: | 1099 |
| Citation Volume: | |
| Citation Year: | 2003 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | A review of the role of contaminants in amphibian declines; 2003; Book chapter; Handbook of Ecotoxicology; Sparling, D. W. |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg |
| Date Other: | Tue, 9 Jun 2009 09:23 -0500 |
| Publisher: | Lewis Publishers |
