US EPA

8029393 

Journal Article 

THE EFFECTS OF SUBSTRATE PH ON GROWTH AND SURVIVAL OF RECENTLY METAMORPHOSED MARBLED SALAMANDERS (AMBYSTOMA OPACUM) 

Anderson, KJ; Johnson, JR 

2018 

Yes 

Herpetological Conservation and Biology
ISSN: 1931-7603 

13 

1 

70-79 

WOS:000433024200007 

In terrestrial habitats with a history of mining activity, understanding the effects of soil acidification on the ecology of amphibians is an important part of the restoration process and of the conservation of local amphibian populations. After metamorphosis, pond-breeding amphibians spend much of their life in direct contact with the soil in upland habitat adjacent to aquatic breeding sites. Given the thin, permeable skin of amphibians, abiotic soil characteristics likely affect their physiology, behavior, and fitness. We reared recently metamorphosed Marbled Salamanders {Ambystoma opacum) in the laboratory at four pH levels (pH 4, 5, 6 and 7) to evaluate the effect of soil acidity on determinants of fitness, such as growth and survival. A pH of 4 was lethal to recent metamorphs, but there were no significant differences in survival among the three higher pH treatments. Among animals surviving the higher pH treatments, individuals reared on substrates of pH 5 were shorter in both total length and snoutvent-length by the end of the experiment than individuals reared on substrates of pH 6 and pH 7. We suggest that substrate acidity can affect the fitness of A, opacum through direct mortality and through a decrease in the growth rate of salamanders subsequent to metamorphosis. Thus, negative effects of post-mining acidification likely extend into terrestrial habitats for pond breeding amphibians. 

environmental contamination; juvenile amphibian; habitat destruction and modification; strip mining reclamation; sulfuric acid