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Soil Organic Matter Content Effects on Dermal Pesticide Bioconcentration in American Toads (Bufo Americanus)
Citation:
Van Meter, R., D. Glinski, Matt Henderson, AND Tom Purucker. Soil Organic Matter Content Effects on Dermal Pesticide Bioconcentration in American Toads (Bufo Americanus). Annual Meeting of American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, New Orleans, LA, July 06 - 10, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
Presented at the Annual Meeting of American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Description:
Agricultural landscapes serve as active amphibian breeding grounds despite their seemingly poor habitat value. Activity of adults and dispersal of metamorphs to and from agricultural ponds occurs in most species from spring through late summer or early fall, a time that coincides with pesticide applications on farm fields and crops. In terrestrial landscapes, dermal contact with contaminated soil and plant matter may lead to bioconcentration as well as lethal and sublethal effects in amphibians.Although the physiological structure of the amphibian dermis may facilitate pesticide uptake, soil properties may ultimately dictate bioavailability of pesticides in terrestrial habitats. The organic matter fraction of soil readily binds to pesticides, potentially decreasing the availability of pesticides adhering to biological matter. Soil partition coefficient <Kocl is a comprehensive measure used to indicate how mobile a given pesticide is after interaction with the solid, carbon fraction of soils. A basic understanding of soil organic carbon content and soil-specific Koc values may be important to indicating pesticide bioavailability and potential bioconcentration in amphibians. Our study was designed to evaluate dermal uptake of five pesticide active ingredients on either high or low organic matter soils. We predicted that amphibian body burdens would be a function of soil carbon content or Koc. with greater bioconcentration in individuals exposed to pesticides on sandy soil with low organic matter content, compared to soil rich in organic matter.
