Rowe C L, Hopkins W A, Coffman V R
University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA.
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2001 Apr;40(3):399-405. doi: 10.1007/s002440010189.
We conducted a transplant study in which embryonic southern toads (Bufo terrestris) were held in a site polluted with coal ash (site AB; containing As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Se, and other elements) and a reference site (site R) through hatching and early larval development. To examine the remainder of the larval period, surviving larvae in AB were then transplanted to R and back-transplanted to AB, whereas surviving larvae from R were back-transplanted to R. Survival through early larval development was lower in AB than in R (34% versus 50%). However, site of hatching did not influence traits later in development (larval metabolic rate, larval morphology, duration of larval period, size at metamorphosis, or average hopping distance by metamorphs). Toads that spent the entire larval period in R had high rates of survival (70-94% of individuals transplanted after the embryonic period) regardless of where they spent the embryonic and early larval period. However, toads held in AB for the duration of the larval period suffered 100% mortality. Algal resources were scarce and their trace element concentrations high in AB compared to R, suggesting that mortality of larval toads resulted from a combination of direct toxicity (via sediment- and foodborne exposure) and indirect effects on resource abundance. The study suggests that the widespread practice of disposing of coal ash in open aquatic basins may result in sink habitats for some amphibian populations.
我们进行了一项移植研究，将南方蟾蜍（Bufo terrestris）胚胎置于一个受煤灰污染的地点（AB 地点；含有砷、镉、铬、铜、硒和其他元素）和一个参考地点（R 地点），直至孵化和幼体早期发育阶段。为了研究幼体期的剩余阶段，AB 地点存活的幼体随后被移植到 R 地点，然后再回迁至 AB 地点，而 R 地点存活的幼体则被回迁至 R 地点。AB 地点幼体早期发育阶段的存活率低于 R 地点（分别为 34%和 50%）。然而，孵化地点并不影响发育后期的特征（幼体代谢率、幼体形态、幼体期持续时间、变态时的大小或变态后的平均跳跃距离）。在 R 地点度过整个幼体期的蟾蜍存活率很高（胚胎期后移植个体的 70 - 94%），无论它们在胚胎期和幼体早期处于何处。然而，在 AB 地点度过整个幼体期的蟾蜍死亡率为 100%。与 R 地点相比，AB 地点的藻类资源稀缺，其微量元素浓度较高，这表明幼体蟾蜍的死亡是直接毒性（通过沉积物和食物暴露）以及对资源丰度的间接影响共同作用的结果。该研究表明，在开放水域盆地处置煤灰的广泛做法可能会导致一些两栖动物种群形成汇生境。
