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Acute toxicity of inorganic nitrogen (ammonium, nitrate and nitrite) to tadpoles of five tropical amphibian species

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgements

We thank ICMBio (ICMBio 17559) and the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo for collection permits, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for a scholarship to PI, and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico (CNPq Edital Universal Projeto 483801/2007-0) and the São 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).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CENSE, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon, Quinta da Torre, Caparica, 2829-516, Lisbon, Portugal

    Michiel A. Daam

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Paulo Ilha

  3. Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Arlindo Béttio, no. 1000, Ermelino Matarazzo, São Paulo, SP, CEP 03828-000, Brazil

    Luis Schiesari

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  1. Michiel A. Daam
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  2. Paulo Ilha
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Correspondence to Michiel A. Daam.

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Ethical approval

All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. The permit for collection, transport and storage of the test animals used in this study was provided by IBAMA/ICMBio (permit number 17559-1) and the tests conducted were approved by the ethical Commission of the Instituto de Biocien̂cias da Universidade de São Paulo (Protocol 039/2007).

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Daam, M.A., Ilha, P. & Schiesari, L. Acute toxicity of inorganic nitrogen (ammonium, nitrate and nitrite) to tadpoles of five tropical amphibian species. Ecotoxicology 29, 1516–1521 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-020-02247-8

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