Adaptation to osmotic stress provides protection against ammonium nitrate in Pelophylax perezi embryos |
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Authors: | Manuel E Ortiz-Santaliestra María José Fernández-Benéitez |
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Institution: | a Department of Animal Biology, University of Salamanca, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, 37007 Salamanca, Spain b Doñana Biological Station, Spanish Council for Scientific Research, C/Americo Vespucio s/n, 41092 Sevilla, Spain |
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Abstract: | The negative effects of pollution on amphibians are especially high when animals are additionally stressed by other environmental factors such as water salinity. However, the stress provoked by salinity may vary among populations because of adaptation processes. We tested the combined effect of a common fertilizer, ammonium nitrate (0-90.3 mg N-NO3NH4/L), and water salinity (0-2‰) on embryos of two Pelophylax perezi populations from ponds with different salinity concentrations. Embryos exposed to the fertilizer were up to 17% smaller than controls. Survival rates of embryos exposed to a single stressor were always below 10%. The exposure to both stressors concurrently increased mortality rate (>95%) of embryos from freshwater. Since the fertilizer was lethal only when individuals were stressed by the salinity, it did not cause lethal effects on embryos naturally adapted to saline environments. Our results underscore the importance of testing multiple stressors when analyzing amphibian sensitivity to environmental pollution. |
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Keywords: | Amphibian decline Intraspecific variation Local adaptation Multiple stressors Salinity |
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