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. 2016 Mar;13(1):111-22.
doi: 10.1007/s10393-016-1103-2. Epub 2016 Feb 24.

Combined Effects of Pesticides and Trematode Infections on Hourglass Tree Frog Polypedates cruciger

Affiliations

Combined Effects of Pesticides and Trematode Infections on Hourglass Tree Frog Polypedates cruciger

Uthpala A Jayawardena et al. Ecohealth. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

The impact of widespread and common environmental factors, such as chemical contaminants, on infectious disease risk in amphibians is particularly important because both chemical contaminants and infectious disease have been implicated in worldwide amphibian declines. Here we report on the lone and combined effects of exposure to parasitic cercariae (larval stage) of the digenetic trematode, Acanthostomum burminis, and four commonly used pesticides (insecticides: chlorpyrifos, dimethoate; herbicides: glyphosate, propanil) at ecologically relevant concentrations on the survival, growth, and development of the common hourglass tree frog, Polypedates cruciger Blyth 1852. There was no evidence of any pesticide-induced mortality on cercariae because all the cercariae successfully penetrated each tadpole host regardless of pesticide treatment. In isolation, both cercarial and pesticide exposure significantly decreased frog survival, development, and growth, and increased developmental malformations, such as scoliosis, kyphosis, and also edema and skin ulcers. The combination of cercariae and pesticides generally posed greater risk to frogs than either factor alone by decreasing survival or growth or increasing time to metamorphosis or malformations. The exception was that lone exposure to chlorpyrifos had higher mortality without than with cercariae. Consistent with mathematical models that suggest that stress should increase the impact of generalist parasites, the weight of the evidence from the field and laboratory suggests that ecologically relevant concentrations of agrochemicals generally increase the threat that trematodes pose to amphibians, highlighting the importance of elucidating interactions between anthropogenic activities and infectious disease in taxa of conservation concern.

Keywords: Chlorpyrifos; Dimethoate; Glyphosate; Malformation; Propanil.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Breslow survivorship curves displaying cumulative proportion of tadpoles of Polypedates cruciger surviving in the 10 treatment groups (5 pesticide by 2 cercariae treatments). Each treatment had four replicate tanks with 20 tadpoles per tank. Chlorpyrifos and dimethoate are insecticides and glyphosate and propanil are herbicides.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean proportion (± SE, n = 4 tanks) of Polypedates cruciger frogs that survived until metamorphosis (a) and that had malformations approximately 10 days post-hatching (b) when exposed to five pesticide treatments (control water, the insecticides chlorpyrifos and dimethoate, and the herbicides glyphosate and propanil) crossed by the presence or absence of exposure to cercariae of the trematode Acanthostomum burminis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Different malformations observed in Polypedates cruciger frogs exposed to pesticides or cercariae of the trematode Acanthostomum burminis. Scoliosis (spinal curvature) (a), kyphosis (hunch back) (b), skin ulcer (c), edema at the left side of the body and lack of skin pigmentation (d). Proportion of each malformation type across all treatments (e).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean (±SE, n = 4 tanks) days until Polypedates cruciger frogs metamorphosed (a) and mean experimental day when 50% of these frogs had forelimb emergence (TE50) (b) when exposed to five pesticide treatments (control water, the insecticides chlorpyrifos and dimethoate, and the herbicides glyphosate and propanil) crossed by the presence or absence of exposure to cercariae of the trematode Acanthostomum burminis.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mean (±SE, n = 4 tanks) mass (a) and snout-vent length (SVL) (b) of Polypedates cruciger frogs at metamorphosis when exposed to five pesticide treatments (control water, the insecticides chlorpyrifos and dimethoate, and the herbicides glyphosate and propanil) crossed by the presence or absence of exposure to cercariae of the trematode Acanthostomum burminis.

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