Effects of the herbicide atrazine on Ambystoma tigrinum metamorphosis: duration, larval growth, and hormonal response

Physiological Zoology
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Abstract

We exposed larval tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) reared in the laboratory from eggs collected from a prairie wetland in North Dakota to three concentrations of atrazine (0, 75, and 250 i??g/L) in a static renewal test to determine the pesticide's effect on (1) plasma corticosterone and thyroxine concentrations, (2) larval size, and (3) days-to-stage at stages 2 and 4 of metamorphic climax. We found significant effects of atrazine on each of these response variables. Plasma thyroxine was elevated in both atrazine-exposed groups compared to the control group; plasma corticosterone was depressed in the 75 i??g/L treatment compared with both the control and 250 i??g/L treatment. Larvae exposed to 75 i??g/L atrazine reached stage 4 later, but at a size and weight comparable to the control group. By contrast, larvae in the 250 i??g/L treatment progressed to stage 4 at the same time but at a smaller size and lower weight than larvae in the control group. These results indicate that the herbicide has the potential to influence tiger salamander life history. We present a model consistent with our results, whereby corticosterone and thyroxine interact to regulate metamorphosis of tiger salamanders based on nutrient assimilation and adult fitness
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Effects of the herbicide atrazine on Ambystoma tigrinum metamorphosis: duration, larval growth, and hormonal response
Series title Physiological Zoology
DOI 10.1086/515999
Volume 71
Issue 6
Year Published 1998
Language English
Publisher University of Chicago Press
Contributing office(s) Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Description 9 p.
First page 671
Last page 679
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