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  • Contaminant-induced behavioural changes in amphibians: A meta-analysis

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    Embargoed until: 2021-11-25
    Author(s)
    Sievers, Michael
    Hale, Robin
    Parris, Kirsten M
    Melvin, Steven D
    Lanctot, Chantal M
    Swearer, Stephen E
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Sievers, Michael K.
    Melvin, Steve D.
    Lanctot, Chantal
    Year published
    2019
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    Environmental contamination contributes to the threatened status of many amphibian populations. Many contaminants alter behaviour at concentrations commonly experienced in the environment, with negative consequences for individual fitness, populations and communities. A comprehensive, quantitative evaluation of the behavioural sensitivity of amphibians is warranted to better understand the population-level and resultant ecological impacts of contaminants. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating behavioural changes following exposure to contaminants. Most studies were conducted in North America and Europe ...
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    Environmental contamination contributes to the threatened status of many amphibian populations. Many contaminants alter behaviour at concentrations commonly experienced in the environment, with negative consequences for individual fitness, populations and communities. A comprehensive, quantitative evaluation of the behavioural sensitivity of amphibians is warranted to better understand the population-level and resultant ecological impacts of contaminants. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating behavioural changes following exposure to contaminants. Most studies were conducted in North America and Europe on larval stages, and 64% of the 116 studies focussed on the effects of insecticides. We found that a suite of contaminants influence a wide range of behaviours in amphibians, with insecticides typically invoking the strongest responses. In particular, insecticides increased rates of abnormal swimming, and reduced escape responses to simulated predator attacks. Our analysis identified five key needs for future research, in particular the need: (1) for researchers to provide more details of experimental protocols and results (2) to develop a strong research base for future quantitative reviews, (3) to broaden the suite of contaminants tested, (4) to better study and thus understand the effects of multiple stressors, and (5) to establish the ecological importance of behavioural alterations. Behavioural endpoints provide useful sub-lethal indicators of how contaminants influence amphibians, and coupled with standard ecotoxicological endpoints, can provide valuable information for population models assessing the broader ecological consequences of environmental contamination.
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    Journal Title
    Science of the Total Environment
    Volume
    693
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.376
    Copyright Statement
    © 2019 Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited.
    Subject
    Environmental Sciences
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/386683
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    • Journal articles

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