TY - JOUR
T1 - Acute toxicity of inorganic nitrogen (ammonium, nitrate and nitrite) to tadpoles of five tropical amphibian species
AU - Daam, Michiel A.
AU - Ilha, Paulo
AU - Schiesari, Luis
N1 - We thank ICMBio (ICMBio 17559) and the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sa~o Paulo for collection permits, Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES) for a scholarship to PI, and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Tecnologico (CNPq Edital Universal Projeto 483801/2007-0) and the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP Young Researcher Award 2008/57939-9, FAPESP Thematic Project 2015/18790-3) for funding this research. This work was also supported by the Portuguese government (FCT) through the research unit UIDB/04085/2020 (CENSE).
PY - 2020/11/1
Y1 - 2020/11/1
N2 - Despite the higher diversity of amphibians and the increasing use of agrochemicals in tropical countries, knowledge on the ecotoxicity of such compounds to tropical amphibians remains very limited. The aim of this study was, therefore, to assess the acute lethal toxicity of three nitrogen salts (ammonium sulphate, sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite) to tadpoles of five tropical frog species: Rhinella ornata, Boana faber, B. pardalis, Physalaemus cuvieri, and P. olfersii. The order of sensitivity to the nitrogen salts for all five species was sodium nitrite > ammonium sulphate > sodium nitrate. There was not a single most sensitive species to all three nitrogen salts. However, differences in generated 4-d LC50 values between the most and least sensitive test species were small (a factor 2 to 6). A comparison with published toxicity values does not suggest an intrinsic higher, or lower, sensitivity of the tropical species tested as compared to their temperate counterparts. Reported nitrogen concentrations in sugarcane fields do not indicate a lethal risk to the amphibian species tested. Chronic-exposure and field studies are recommended to evaluate amphibian sensitivity under environmental-realistic multiple-stressor conditions.
AB - Despite the higher diversity of amphibians and the increasing use of agrochemicals in tropical countries, knowledge on the ecotoxicity of such compounds to tropical amphibians remains very limited. The aim of this study was, therefore, to assess the acute lethal toxicity of three nitrogen salts (ammonium sulphate, sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite) to tadpoles of five tropical frog species: Rhinella ornata, Boana faber, B. pardalis, Physalaemus cuvieri, and P. olfersii. The order of sensitivity to the nitrogen salts for all five species was sodium nitrite > ammonium sulphate > sodium nitrate. There was not a single most sensitive species to all three nitrogen salts. However, differences in generated 4-d LC50 values between the most and least sensitive test species were small (a factor 2 to 6). A comparison with published toxicity values does not suggest an intrinsic higher, or lower, sensitivity of the tropical species tested as compared to their temperate counterparts. Reported nitrogen concentrations in sugarcane fields do not indicate a lethal risk to the amphibian species tested. Chronic-exposure and field studies are recommended to evaluate amphibian sensitivity under environmental-realistic multiple-stressor conditions.
KW - Amphibians
KW - Aquatic ecotoxicology
KW - Native species
KW - Nitrogen
KW - Tropics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087611293&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10646-020-02247-8
DO - 10.1007/s10646-020-02247-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 32638180
AN - SCOPUS:85087611293
SN - 0963-9292
VL - 29
JO - Ecotoxicology
JF - Ecotoxicology
IS - 9
ER -