SREL Reprint #3290

Effects of copper exposure on hatchling success and early larval survival in marbled salamanders, Ambystoma opacum

Diana L. Soteropoulos, Stacey L. Lance, R. Wesley Flynn, and David E. Scott

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, USA

Abstract: The creation of wetlands, such as urban and industrial ponds, has increased in recent decades, and these wetlands often become enriched in pollutants over time. One metal contaminant trapped in created wetlands is copper (Cu2+). Copper concentrations in sediments and overlying water may affect amphibian species that breed in created wetlands. The authors analyzed the Cu concentration in dried sediments from a contaminated wetland and the levels of aqueous Cu released after flooding the sediments with different volumes of water, mimicking low, medium, and high pond-filling events. Eggs and larvae of Ambystoma opacum Gravenhorst, a salamander that lays eggs on the sediments in dry pond beds that hatch on pond-filling, were exposed to a range of Cu concentrations that bracketed potential aqueous Cu levels in created wetlands. Embryo survival varied among clutches, but increased Cu levels did not affect embryo survival. At Cu concentrations of 500µg/L or greater, however, embryos hatched earlier, and the aquatic larvae died shortly after hatching. Because Cu concentrations in sediments increase over time in created wetlands, even relatively tolerant species such as A. opacum may be affected by Cu levels in the posthatching environment.

Keywords: Amphibian, Created wetland, Ecotoxicology, Metal toxicity, Treatment wetlands

SREL Reprint #3290

Soteropoulos, D. L., S. L. Lance, R. W. Flynn, and D. E. Scott. 2014. Effects of copper exposure on hatchling success and early larval survival in marbled salamanders, Ambystoma opacum. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 33(7): 1631-1637.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).