TY - JOUR

T1 - Endocrine disruptors in breeding ponds and reproductive health of toads in agricultural, urban and natural landscapes

AU - Bókony, Veronika

AU - Üveges, Bálint

AU - Ujhegyi, Nikolett

AU - Verebélyi, Viktória

AU - Nemesházi, Edina

AU - Csíkvári, Olivér

AU - Hettyey, Attila

N1 - Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PY - 2018/9/1

Y1 - 2018/9/1

N2 - Many chemical pollutants have endocrine disrupting effects which can cause lifelong reproductive abnormalities in animals. Amphibians are the most threatened group of vertebrates, but there is little information on the nature and quantity of pollutants occurring in typical amphibian breeding habitats and on the reproductive capacities of amphibian populations inhabiting polluted areas. In this study we investigated the occurrence and concentrations of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the water and sediment of under-studied amphibian breeding habitats in natural, agricultural and urbanized landscapes. Also, we captured reproductively active common toads (Bufo bufo) from these habitats and let them spawn in a 'common garden' to assess among-population differences in reproductive capacity. Across 12 ponds, we detected 41 out of the 133 contaminants we screened for, with unusually high concentrations of glyphosate and carbamazepine. Levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nonylphenol and bisphenol-A increased with urban land use, whereas levels of organochlorine and triazine pesticides and sex hormones increased with agricultural land use. Toads from all habitats had high fecundity, fertilization rate and offspring viability, but the F1 generation originating from agricultural and urban ponds had reduced development rates and lower body mass both as larvae and as juveniles. Females with small clutch mass produced thicker jelly coat around their eggs if they originated from agricultural and urban ponds compared with natural ponds. These results suggest that the observed pollution levels did not compromise reproductive potential in toads, but individual fitness and population viability may be reduced in anthropogenically influenced habitats, perhaps due to transgenerational effects and/or costs of tolerance to chemical contaminants.

AB - Many chemical pollutants have endocrine disrupting effects which can cause lifelong reproductive abnormalities in animals. Amphibians are the most threatened group of vertebrates, but there is little information on the nature and quantity of pollutants occurring in typical amphibian breeding habitats and on the reproductive capacities of amphibian populations inhabiting polluted areas. In this study we investigated the occurrence and concentrations of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the water and sediment of under-studied amphibian breeding habitats in natural, agricultural and urbanized landscapes. Also, we captured reproductively active common toads (Bufo bufo) from these habitats and let them spawn in a 'common garden' to assess among-population differences in reproductive capacity. Across 12 ponds, we detected 41 out of the 133 contaminants we screened for, with unusually high concentrations of glyphosate and carbamazepine. Levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nonylphenol and bisphenol-A increased with urban land use, whereas levels of organochlorine and triazine pesticides and sex hormones increased with agricultural land use. Toads from all habitats had high fecundity, fertilization rate and offspring viability, but the F1 generation originating from agricultural and urban ponds had reduced development rates and lower body mass both as larvae and as juveniles. Females with small clutch mass produced thicker jelly coat around their eggs if they originated from agricultural and urban ponds compared with natural ponds. These results suggest that the observed pollution levels did not compromise reproductive potential in toads, but individual fitness and population viability may be reduced in anthropogenically influenced habitats, perhaps due to transgenerational effects and/or costs of tolerance to chemical contaminants.

KW - Agriculture

KW - Animals

KW - Breeding

KW - Bufo bufo/physiology

KW - Cities

KW - Ecosystem

KW - Endocrine Disruptors/analysis

KW - Environmental Monitoring

KW - Female

KW - Pesticides/analysis

KW - Ponds

KW - Reproduction/drug effects

KW - Reproductive Health

KW - Waste Water/analysis

KW - Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.363

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.363

M3 - Article

C2 - 29710633

VL - 634

SP - 1335

EP - 1345

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

SN - 0048-9697

ER -