Nitrogen pollution: an assessment of its threat to amphibian survival.
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TLDR
Nitrate concentrations in some watersheds in North America are high enough to cause death and developmental anomalies in amphibians and impact other animals in aquatic ecosystems and there is a need to reduce runoff, sewage effluent discharge, and the use of fertilizers, and to establish and enforce water quality guidelines for nitrate for the protection of aquatic organisms.Abstract:
The potential for nitrate to affect amphibian survival was evaluated by examining the areas in North America where concentrations of nitrate in water occur above amphibian toxicity thresholds. Nitrogen pollution from anthropogenic sources enters bodies of water through agricultural runoff or percolation associated with nitrogen fertilization, livestock, precipitation, and effluents from industrial and human wastes. Environmental concentrations of nitrate in watersheds throughout North America range from 100 mg/L. Of the 8,545 water quality samples collected from states and provinces bordering the Great Lakes, 19.8% contained nitrate concentrations exceeding those which can cause sublethal effects in amphibians. In the laboratory lethal and sublethal effects in amphibians are detected at nitrate concentrations between 2.5 and 100 mg/L. Furthermore, amphibian prey such as insects and predators of amphibians such as fish are also sensitive to these elevated levels of nitrate. From this we conclude that nitrate concentrations in some watersheds in North America are high enough to cause death and developmental anomalies in amphibians and impact other animals in aquatic ecosystems. In some situations, the use of vegetated buffer strips adjacent to water courses can reduce nitrogen contamination of surface waters. Ultimately, there is a need to reduce runoff, sewage effluent discharge, and the use of fertilizers, and to establish and enforce water quality guidelines for nitrate for the protection of aquatic organisms.read more
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References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus their attention on the "natural history" of amphibians world wide and emphasize their interactions with their environments over time: where they live; how they reproduce, how they have been affected by evolutionary processes; what factors will determine their destinies over time.
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Amphibian declines and climate disturbance: the case of the golden toad and the harlequin frog
J. Alan Pounds,Martha L. Crump +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a 12-month amphibian moisture-temperature cycle consisting of four periods: (1) late wet season, (2) transition into dry season; (3) dry season, and (4) post-dry season (early-wet-season) recovery was defined.